Heart of Darkness
by DarkestxHearts
Summary: Set 18 years post NFA. In one earth shattering day, the children of the now combined Scooby/AI gang discover their heritages, their parents' pasts, their destinies, and that the world isn't what they believed it to be... their lives are about to change forever. Pairings: Bangel, Spaith, Fresley, WillOz, Connor/Dawn, Xander/Cordelia (kinda), OC/OC (5). Rated M for later chapters.
1. Brave New World

Title: Heart of Darkness

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. If I had, both series would've been at least headed in this direction.

Genre: Supernatural/Drama

Rating: M, for later chapters

Pairings: Bangel, Spaith, Fresley, Connor/Dawn, Xander/Cordelia (kinda), OC/OC (5 of them)

A/N: Okay, so I've been working on this story since November of 2013. 2013! The plot's changed several times (and gotten ALOT better), I've changed character names, written and rewritten chapters, gotten a little side tracked *cough* not writing in order, even within the same story *cough*, and I have to admit after investing so much time into it, I'm actually kinda scared to release it. I _want_ people to like it. I _want_ people to fall in love with my original characters like I have. I will put them through hell, yes, but what story doesn't have good drama, especially when it comes to shows in the Whedonverse? _Hello_, pain is a given. But I promise that they're all eventually going to be happy. And by eventually I mean several stories from now. And when I say several stories, I have about 8 lined up at the moment *wince*. I don't think that'll change, and everything will come full circle. The characters will grow and learn from all their experiences/mistakes because let's face it, no one's perfect. I hope you guys like it :)

A/N 2: I'd also like to go ahead and say that while this is set in the Buffyverse, it does have some themes, scenes, and plot points from TVD. Some of my OC's are based off of characters in TVD, but that's about it. Most of my inspiration _did _come from TVD, and that's what's in the story(s). I wouldn't exactly call it a crossover, though, considering that the TVD universe in my story doesn't exist.

A/N 3: I know this is getting long, but I did have some specific people I was basing my OC's appearances off of. So, basically, if I could actually make this into a tv show and cast actors... these are who I'd want. Katherine O'Connor: Nina Dobrev (as Katherine from TVd). Elena O'Connor: Nina Dobrev (as Elena from TVD). Bonnie O'Connor: Nicola Peltz. Liam O'Connor: Xavier Samuel. Damon Pratt: Ian Somerhalder. Alaric Pratt: Alex Pettyfer. Kylie Pratt: Adelaide Kane. Ariel Osbourne: Lily Collins. Daphne Wyndham-Pryce: Zoey Deutch. Peter Wyndham-Pryce: Henry Cavill. Celeste Riley: AnnaSopha Robb. Alex Harris: Daniel Samonas.

A/N 4: Yeah, all my chapters with be at least 10k words or more. This one was on the longer side because of all the content I had to smush into one chapter. Introducing 12 original characters is a lot of work! Lol. Anyways, here's the story... I really hope you guys like it.

* * *

_Remember the day_

_'Cause this is what dreams should always be_

_I just want to stay_

_I just want to keep this dream in me_

_You're losing your memory now_

_You're losing your memory now_

_You're losing your memory now_

_You're losing your memory_

_Wake up, it's time, little girl, wake up_

_All the best of what we've done is yet to come_

_Wake up, it's time, little girl, wake up_

_Just remember who I am in the morning_

_You're losing your memory now_

_You're losing your memory now_

_You're losing your memory now_

_You're losing your memory_

_Losing Your Memory / Ryan Star_

* * *

_15 years after NFA..._

_Flashback:_

_French Quarter, New Orleans - 11:45 pm_

"_Two packs of Marlboro and a Budweiser... will that be all?" The pimply twenty something year old asked the dark haired, blue eyed 15 year old Damon Pratt at the checkout counter of the small gas station in the din of the Quarter. The boy nodded, smoothly pulling out his fake ID and handing it to the cashier before he could even ask. As the cashier rang up his purchase, he glanced backwards, down one of the isles, seeing a large man dressed in a black hoodie and black sweats, the hood pulled up, looking back at him._

_He felt some foreboding feeling come over him, but he shook it off, instead turning his attention back to the cashier as he finished paying and then walked over to the cluster of newspapers and magazines, picking up one and flipping through it absently. "Don't move!" He glanced over his shoulder, freezing when he saw the man from before pointing a gun at the cashier. "Empty it out." The man motioned to the register with his gun._

_With shaky hands, the cashier did what he asked, handing the gunman what looked to be no more than twenty dollars. Absently, the boy inwardly shook his head at the man. Anyone and everyone knew how much of a dive this place was. Only people from the wrong side of town - excluding him - came here. This place wasn't worth shit - and didn't make much, either._

_The hooded man scowled, obviously thinking that the cashier was scamming him. The pimply guy held up his hands in surrender, seeing the look on the other man's face. "That's all of it, I swear!" Taking this as an acceptable answer, the man then turned and shot out the security camera, before pointing the gun back at the cashier, who now wore a look of absolute terror on his acne ridden face._

_It was then Damon knew that the gunman wasn't going to let either of them live - not after seeing his face. He looked around frantically, the sound of the cashier's pleas coming from behind him, trying to find something - anything - to use as a weapon, but found nothing. As the man continued to argue with the cashier who was pleading for his life, Damon quietly snuck up behind the man who towered over him by nearly half a foot. He didn't know what made him want to play the hero instead of doing the smart, self preserving thing and attempting to make a run for it, but his gut was telling him to save the guy behind the register._

_The gunman was so focused on trying to weasel more money, as if there was any left, that he didn't even know Damon was behind him until the 15 year old had jumped him, using one arm to try and choke him while the other struggled to dislodge the gun from the man's hand. The man's shock worked in his favor as the his legs gave out, sending them both crashing to the ground. The gun clattered to the cheap fake-tiled floor of the convenience store, and Damon winced as his head impacted with a loud crack against the ground after rolling away from the man a few feet._

_He shook his head, trying to clear his now swimming vision so that he could reach the gun first. He managed to shakily push himself up off the floor, smelling and feeling the warmth of his blood gushing down his face from an open wound on his scalp. As soon as he took his first step, he realized too late that the gunmen already had said weapon in his hands, pointed a he heard before his vision went black was the sound of two shots being fired coupled with an agonizing pain ignited in his chest. Damon's body collapsed back to the floor, blood flowing in copious amounts from both his head and chest as his heart stuttered once, twice, and then fell silent._

* * *

_3 years later_

_December 13, 2022_

_Bremen, Georgia - 6:00 pm_

"Dad? Have you seen my ribbon?" Katherine yelled, digging through the drawers in her dresser, trying to find the last piece to her cheerleading uniform. She had it when she cheered at the game last friday night, where the hell had she put it? "What ribbon?" Angel yelled back, no doubt putting on his suit, getting dressed for work in her parents room down the hall from hers. He usually worked during the day, but this week he'd been investigating a homicide that had required him to work at night, only allowing him downtime from lunch until right after dinner. She sighed and almost rolled her eyes. "The one that I always wear with my uniform?" She shouted back.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall then, before he poked his head into her room. "Nope, sorry." He apologized, and instantly she felt bad for giving him attitude. She smiled at him softly and he smiled back in kind. They had always had a special relationship, could understand each other on a level that neither Elena, Liam, or Bonnie ever could. She'd been "daddy's little girl" her entire life. Whenever he'd go fishing, hunting, to the shooting range, or anything really, she'd always begged to tag along, and he'd let her. She was the tomboy between she, Elena, and Bonnie, and though Liam enjoyed all of those things too, she'd been doing them with Angel longer than he had.

She made a face, one that scrunched up her nose in an adorable way that her dad had always told her reminded him of her mother. "Thanks anyways." She said, beginning to pull her long, chocolate colored curly hair up into a ponytail, securing it with a hair tie. "You're welcome." Angel said, walking over to her and planting a kiss on her forehead. "Skirt's too short." He murmured against her temple. "Dad, it's a cheerleading uniform, not a business outfit." She whined. He pulled away, giving her a teasing smile. "And that top... pull it down." She groaned, but knew he was only messing with her. She had to admit, though... The top showed off more of her stomach than even she was comfortable with, and she was pretty toned and thin. "What do you want me to do? Dress in petticoats, corsets, and never show my ankles?" She teased back. "We're in the 21st century here. I swear, sometimes I feel like you were born in a different century." Which, technically he had, but not one that would see her current attire as being scandalous.

She didn't miss the sudden look of discomfort that he quickly masked, she'd clearly struck a nerve. "You know I'm just kidding, right?" She asked him, offering the thinly veiled apology. "I know." He smiled back slightly before changing the topic. "I better go and start dinner before your mom gets any bright ideas." She smiled back at him. "Please do. Last time you were out of town, she tried to make a grilled cheese... almost burned the house down." She whispered the last part conspiratorially, glancing around him into the hall to make sure her mother wasn't there. "But don't tell her I told you... she swore me to secrecy." He laughed. "Don't worry, you won't hear anything from me." He reassured her, backing out of her room. "Dinner's in twenty minutes, get Elena, Liam, and Bonnie before you come downstairs please." She mock saluted him. "Sir yes sir."

He smiled at her one last time before turning and walking down the stairs. She turned back to her room, trying to remember where she'd put the offending scrap of fabric. The football game tonight was the first round of the state playoffs at home, and she was the team captain, first freshman, beginning last year, ever to hold the position at McGillivray High. What kind of captain would she be if she didn't have her ribbon? She smiled and shook her head. It wasn't a big deal at all in the grand scheme of things, but some girls on her squad would be more than a little upset, which was silly... it was just a ribbon for crying out loud.

There were more important things to worry about, though a majority of the girls were living in their own little high school bubble, where all that mattered was who they were going on a date with or how to get in with the popular crowd. It was sickening, even though she was one of the most popular girls in school. How, she had no idea. From the day she set foot in the building a year and a half ago, everyone had jockeyed for Katherine O'Connor's friendship. While popularity had it's perks, like sitting at the best table at lunch and actually having enough room to walk in the halls without getting run over, it was also extremely lonely. A large group of kids, ranging from freshman to seniors, always followed her around and laughed at all of her jokes and listened to her talk.

A regular teenage girl would eat up the attention, and while she masked it well, she could be surrounded by all those people and feel entirely alone. It wasn't that she hadn't tried to shake all of those people and be the loner she always inwardly felt like, she had, but they never left her alone, no matter how hard she tried. She'd never told anyone how she felt. Her mother assumed that she was exactly like she was when she was a cheerleader, worried about boys and shopping, though the shopping part was slightly toned down compared to that of her mother's. Her dad was the same way.

She knew that something had happened to her mother during her sophomore year that had completely changed her outlook. She'd moved from LA to a small southern California coastal town that she'd never been told the name of, and befriended her Aunt Willow, Uncle Oz and Uncle Xander, whom she had met on several occasions throughout the years. It was also where she'd met her dad and started their 'Romeo and Juliet-esque relationship' as some of their friends liked to put it. She knew that the only reason her dad was willing to believe that she enjoyed her popularity was because it reminded him of her mother, Buffy, when they'd first met some 25 or so years ago.

She just so happened to glance up at her mirror then, seeing her ribbon tied to one of the hooks just to the right of it. "Wow, I'm blind." She muttered annoyedly, untying it from the hook and retying it around her hair, studying herself in the mirror for a few seconds before deciding that this was as good as it was gonna get. She closed the door to her room and walked down the stairs, toward the kitchen, but stopped in the living room, staring at a picture taken of her and her parents only a few weeks back, already framed. She smiled, picking up the framed image for a moment. The sound of her mother coming down the stairs broke her out of her reverie.

"Alright, Will. Tell me when you've located them, okay?" Her mother and Aunt Willow were talking about work, probably about some girls that her Aunt had recruited for the fancy boarding school they jointly ran for "Exceptional and Talented Young Women" or whatnot. She'd never really asked, mostly because whenever she had in the past, her mother had been very vague.

She set down the picture and turned, wanting to beat her mother to the kitchen. "Relax Will, you've done this, what, at least a thousand times in the past 19 years or so? It's just taking a little longer than last time, it'll work." She reassured. Just then, Liam and Elena came trudging down the stairs right behind her mother, Liam in his football jersey, and Elena in her cheerleading uniform, identical to Katherine's, her straight chocolate hair pulled up in a ponytail as well. "Coach said he wants us at the field early for some pep talk or something." Liam said, his dark golden blonde head turned down, still scrolling through his phone. Even though he was only a freshman, Liam was already the high school quarterback. He should be on second or even third string, but the coach, Coach Williamson, had watched him practice all summer and had decided to make him the new quarterback.

And, it didn't hurt that he was already six foot and could easily see over the line of scrimmage.

So far, he had led the McGillivray High Timberwolves in an undefeated season, rousing the hope that they'd finally win a State title. In their small town of Bremen, Georgia, there was little else to do besides going to football games on a friday night, at least, for the adults that is. The teens in the town were a little more lively. Most were the typical southerners that wore cowboy boots, drove huge pickup trucks, and had a good time by having a bonfire in one of their fields and jamming out to some country music while they drank beer out of red solo cups and socialized, which, even she had to admit, was fun.

Elena motioned to her. "Come on, Kat. It wouldn't hurt for us to be early and Liam said that Jen was going to drive us." Jennifer Mason. Liam's junior girlfriend who was so shallow that, if she were a pool, the water wouldn't even reach your ankles. Katherine saw right through the girl's seemingly cute and innocent facade.

She was only dating her little brother so she could benefit from the popularity of dating the quarterback, and it didn't hurt that his older sisters were the most desired and popular girls in their school. While Katherine had her own posse following her around, Elena had a different one, and, unlike Katherine, she actually kind of relished the attention. Katherine saw Buffy frown. "What about dinner?" She asked. "We have to leave, mom. Coach's orders." Liam insisted, but Katherine knew he felt bad for missing their nightly family dinner. While other kids sought any and every excuse not to spend time with their parents, the O'Connor children tried to spend as much time with Buffy and Angel as they could.

"Alright, fine." She said before calling to their father. Angel came walking through the door that led to the kitchen with a small towel thrown over his shoulder, followed closely by Katherine, Elena, and Liam's 13 year old younger sister, Bonnie, who was practically a carbon copy of their mother, from her stature, to her bright green eyes and golden colored waves. "The coach said that they need to be there early, meaning they're going to miss dinner." She told him with a pout, that was soon matched by one of Bonnie's.

"But I'm going to be gone all weekend! I won't get to see you guys 'til Sunday night!" Bonnie said with a frown. Katherine walked up to her younger sister and touched her cheek. "You're not coming to the game?" Bonnie shook her head. "Mom and Dad are gonna drop me off at Michelle's before, and then we're gonna go catch a movie." Katherine patted it, giving the tiny blonde a wink. "You won't miss much, trust me." She jerked her finger in Liam's direction. "He'll make quick work of those horned frogs." It was Buffy's turn to retort. "But Fridays are our family night! It's a ritual that can't be broken!" She pouted again, this time directing it at their dad.

They all knew that Buffy's pout was their dad's kryptonite. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "We'll just have to make up for it on Sunday." He told her, and she nodded reluctantly in agreement. They turned back to the four of them. "We'll be there for the game, and I think your Grandpa will be with us." She said, smiling as all of their faces lit up, except for Bonnie, who frowned again. Not only was she missing the game and family night, she was also missing their grandpa too?

"Grandpa Giles is coming?" The three said together excitedly, as Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest. They all loved Giles, and even though they all knew he wasn't their mother's real father, they loved him like he was. He was the only grandparent that they had. The only living one related by blood was their mom's dad, but she hadn't seen or heard from him since high school. "He wanted to see you, and I thought it'd be great for him to see you guys in action." Her mom said. "When does he get here?" Elena asked. Buffy looked down and checked her watch. "In about 30 minutes or so. Your dad and I were going to go pick him up at the airport after dropping Bon off and then drive to the game. Your dad doesn't have to be at work until 10:30 anyways." They all smiled, excited.

Liam checked the time on his phone, paling when he realized just how late they were. "Crap. We need to go. Coach'll make me death crawl down the field carrying Danny if I'm late." He said, quickly kissing Buffy goodbye, then giving Bonnie a nuggy before rushing out the door. Elena and Katherine laughed at him before kissing each of their parents, and then their tiny blonde little sister on the cheeks. "Love you." They called, walking out the door. The twins walked out, only to see Liam sitting in the driver's seat of his future truck, seeing as he was only 14. Katherine looked at him with a raised brow. "I thought Jen was coming to get us." She said, crossing her arms across her chest.

She was only 15, meaning that none of them had their licenses yet. He flashed her a smile. "I lied. Now hop in, we need to get to school ASAP." He said. She rolled her eyes at him, but got into the front seat. Elena grumbled about always having to sit in the back as she slid into her seat. It wasn't like Liam was a bad driver, he wasn't, but she was just slightly worried that they'd get caught, if not by the cops then definitely by their parents. After he'd backed out of the driveway, he smiled at his two older sisters mischievously. "Hold on." he laughed as he gunned it.

* * *

_3 years ago_

_French Quarter, New Orleans - 2:30 am_

_Damon blearily came to in his bed, confused as to why he was there. The last thing he remembered was being shot by the man trying to rob the gas station. Had it all been a dream? His hand came down to his chest, not finding even a whisper of blood, making him relax. It had been just a dream. He sighed in relief, before his hands came up to massage his temples, for the first time noticing the killer migraine he had, coupled with how his body ached all over, including his gums._

"_Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." Faith quipped as she let herself and Spike into his room, and he could sense the nervousness coming off them in waves. He groaned before trying to stand, only succeeding in almost collapsing to the floor when his legs refused to support his weight. Spike caught him and helped him back into bed, wincing as he groaned when his body screamed in pain._

"_I must've gotten totally wasted last night." He mumbled, which would explain the rather graphic dream, body aches, and migraine, though the pain was greater than any he had ever felt before. Faith and Spike shared a look before they both sighed. "What do you know about vampires?"_

* * *

_3 years ago_

_French Quarter, New Orleans - Nearly 3 days later_

"_Wes, he's dying. He's wasting away... How can I tell? Well, his skin's all gray-like, he can barely move, he has no energy, and it looks like he's lost a helluva lot of weight." Spike said into his cellphone as he watched his now sleeping oldest son lying in bed. He hadn't moved in nearly a day, said the pain had been too much to handle. He hadn't eaten anything either - hadn't been able to. He'd tried several times, but he'd never been able to force even a bite down his throat, telling them both that it all tasted like garbage._

"_I'm telling you, the only explanation is that he's somehow woken up his vampire genes, Spike. But I can't explain why his condition is deteriorating rapidly, neither can Fred. His body is shutting down at an alarming rate and we haven't been able to figure out a way to stop it."_

"_He can't even eat and keeps telling us that everything's so loud and that he hurts all over... Wes, we can't lose him. Faith's putting on a brave face right now, but if anything happens to him... I know it won't be pretty. I've never seen her so worried or upset." He said, wincing when Damon jostled slightly, rolling over and coughing, almost like he was gagging. "I'll see what I can dig up, Spike. Fred and I have be combing through manuscripts ever since you called, but we haven't been able to find anything."_

_There was a sudden knock on the door and then Faith walked in with a determined expression on her face. "I have an idea... But it's really on the crazy side." Spike quickly hung up with Wes and was at her side in moments. "What, luv?"_

"_What if... he's part vamp, right? We all know the signs, all of the perks. What if he just needs blood? All vamps need blood." Spike thought it over, realizing that she was right. It made sense. When vampires went without blood for extended periods of time, their bodies tended to shut down much like their son's had, though it was a much more prolonged process which usually spanned decades of agony. It was worth a shot. "You're a genius, baby!" He said, kissing her forehead before racing down the stairs._

"_Well, never heard that one before..." She trailed off as Spike came back into the room brandishing a knife in his hand. "Babe..." Faith began. He shook his head, sitting next to Damon on the bed, which caused their dark haired son to wince as the bed dipped. "There's no time!" He took the knife and cut into his wrist, deep enough to where the blood ran freely, but not too deep as to be life threatening._

_Faith held Damon's mouth open as Spike held his wrist to it, letting the blood flow down their son's throat. Almost immediately they saw a change. His skin returned to it's normal pale pallor, his cheeks filled back in, and color returned to them. After a few more swallows, Spike withdrew his wrist, watching as Damon's eyes opened, wonder clear in them._

_All of the pain was gone. He felt stronger than he ever had been. Everything was brighter, more colorful, and his eyes widened like he was seeing for the first time. He could pick out every little detail - see every little fiber in his comforter, every grain and minute indention in the wall on the far side of his room, even dust mites as they floated in the air in the sunlight streaming from his window._

_Curiously, he stood and walked over to them, his muscles bunching and flexing with each step, relishing in the movements they'd been deprived of. He reached out a hand into the sunlight, only to yelp and pull his smoking hand back that had the first few layers of skin burned off. Spike was about to go grab a bowl of cool water, knowing the feeling of singed flesh all too well, when the skin knitted itself together instantaneously, generating fresh, blemish free skin, like the sun hadn't even touched it. His parents' eyes met before Faith muttered. "There goes the neighborhood."_

* * *

_Present Day_

_Bremen, Georgia - 6:30 pm_

Thirty minutes later, and they were stuck in traffic... still. Elena had leaned her head back on her headrest, nearly asleep. Katherine had her arm propped up on the door near the window, looking out at the scenery with a bored expression on her face as her head leaned on her hand. Liam had one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding his head much like Katherine's was. Suddenly, Katherine heard him growl. "That's it." He quickly pulled around the traffic, cutting across the grass and turned onto an empty narrow road that led back into the woods. The small shortcut was only known by a few, mostly the football and cheer teams, and was used to bypass traffic on friday nights.

Katherine's phone rang and she dug it out of her pocket to answer. Elena groaned at the incessant ringing noise interrupting her power nap. "Hello?" Katherine asked. "_Hey sweetie."_ She heard her mother reply, making Katherine wince. "Hey mom, you guys picked up Grandpa yet?" She asked. "_Yeah, we're on our way... I saw that Liam's car was missing from the driveway." _She said, and Katherine gulped. "Uh, yeah... About that." She laughed nervously. "It wasn't my idea, I swear!" Liam scowled at her. "Sure, throw me under the bus why don't ya?" Buffy sighed, clearly not happy at the moment, and irritated that Katherine and Liam were fighting. Elena was still asleep in the backseat . "_Well, as long as you three are being careful."_ She said, making Katherine relax. "_Are you guys even at the football field yet?"_

Katherine shook her head. "Not yet. Traffic was terrible so Lee decided to take the shortcut. We're just about to go over Oglethorpe bridge." She told Buffy as they came around the turn, the bridge looming ahead. Oglethorpe bridge had been named after the infamous founder of Georgia. Under the bridge flowed a small river, which during the summer was a popular hang out spot for parties and the like. "_Alright, honey. Please be careful."_ She told her, making Katherine smile. "We will." She said, looking up at the road just as they drove onto the bridge. Liam had his eyes closed, yawning, not seeing the deer that was standing in the middle of the lane.

Katherine saw it and screamed at him. "Liam, look out!" She yelled, getting him to notice the deer only seconds before they would've hit it. On instinct, he swerved, missing the deer, but hitting the concrete barrier that had been erected on either side of the bridge to act as guard rails. Instead of stopping the car, like the wall had been designed to, it acted as a launching pad. The wheels of the car hit the wall, propelling it up and over the guardrail and into the river below. They all screamed as they hit the water, their heads snapping backwards at the impact.

* * *

_Present Day_

_French Quarter, New Orleans - Same Time_

She blinked back tears of anger as she wandered the streets of the French Quarter, dodging through the large crowds filling the streets for Carillon Eve - a celebration held in the Quarter where the locals shrouded the eyes of angels all over the city so the dead could walk among the living for one night without judgement. She maneuvered through the sea of vibrant red and pristine white, ignoring the somewhat annoying sound of bells that some carried with them.

She had to admit, this wasn't the best place to go to try and get away from everything that'd happened at her house that night, but it served it's purpose - she'd needed to get away, and the parade had offered her the perfect opportunity to wander off without being found. She needed some time to cool down and gather her jumbled thoughts together, but she really didn't know how. How was someone supposed to react when their parents let them in on a massive secret that they'd kept from them entire lives?

Where the monsters that you used to childishly cower in fear of at night - whether they be under your bed, in the eerily dark closet, or in the far corner of the room, where the coat rack turned into an apparition as soon as the lights were turned off - weren't things of horror stories and sci-fi films.

Where you were told that everything you thought you'd known, everything you'd been told, was a blatant lie. Instead, a world was described to you in vivid, but short detail. A world where things like vampires and demons and evil forces actually existed... And that your parents had been fighting them for years before the mere thought of you was even conceived. A world that you were inexplicably a part of, due to both fate and your now... unique... heritage.

Kylie ran a hand through her dark waves frustratedly as she pushed through another group of people, who were laughing and obviously having a good time, and it made an insane rush of jealousy well up inside her. Why wasn't her family normal? Why was her father an ex-vampire, her mother a "slayer", and her brother... She shuddered. Out of all of it, that'd been the hardest pill to swallow. To find out that her brother - _her brother_ \- was some half-vampire _thing_ had pissed her off the most, but the killer thing was, it actually explained a lot.

The strange hours he kept. The loner tendencies that he exhibited, much, much worse the past three years than they ever had been before. How he was constantly at odds with both Spike and Faith... The ornate ring that he had on his right middle finger, one that had simply materialized one day and she'd never thought to ask about it. The blood that he would come home wearing almost every night, and the reaction it got from their parents. As soon as he walked in the door, Spike and Faith would usher both Kylie and her older brother, Alaric, up to their rooms and then proceed to have a screaming match that resulted in the slamming of the front door as Damon left again.

She turned down an abandoned alleyway, hoping to get away from all of the hub-bub of the festival so that she could actually hear herself think. She was too young for this. They were all too young for this. Hell, even Damon at 18 was far too young to be going out and... killing people at night to satisfy his hunger. She didn't know why they'd chosen to tell her and not Alaric - he was a year older than her at 15, while she was barely 14. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about life and death choices and/or consequences. She shouldn't know that her brother made those choices for others every night, and had been making the same ones for the past 3 years.

It made her angry.

Angry at her parents for keeping this from her; angry for them even being what they said they were, and what she couldn't deny was the clear truth.

"My, my, my... aren't you a pretty thing." She whirled, just barely able to make out a figure, shrouded in darkness, standing a few feet away from her, further into the alley. The voice was raspy - definitely male - on top of uber creepy, like, so creepy it made her skin crawl. She took one marginal step backwards, having lived in the Quarter long enough to know that it definitely wasn't safe at night, when she heard the voice again, this time coming from a completely different direction... and closer. "Oh, don't worry, sweetling... I'm not going to hurt you." She swallowed thickly, trying to banish the intense rush of mind-numbing fear as she felt his breath against the back of her neck.

She could almost feel his smirk. "Much." And then he latched his mouth to her throat as he gathered her in his arms in an iron-tight grip. She screamed as she felt fangs pierce her jugular painfully. She used practically all of her strength to try and extricate herself from his grasp, but his hands, which were digging into her arms excruciatingly, wouldn't even budge a millimeter. She fought, and fought, and fought, until she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, her head becoming fuzzier and fuzzier by each passing moment until there was nothing left.

The vampire let the girl's dead corpse collapse to the dank, dirty asphalt of the alley before wiping his mouth with the back of his arm, a smile on his face as the girl's blood offered him more than just a sating of his hunger. It was the most exquisite thing he'd ever tasted, and he almost laughed at his luck. It wasn't every day that a vampire took down a slayer without a fight and got to feast on her blood. Casting one last glance down to his newest victim, he began walking towards the entrance of the alleyway, whistling as he went.

* * *

_Cleveland, Ohio - Same Time_

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm not a believer. People are born, they grow old, and then they die. That's the world we live in. But, how can I deny what's right in front of me? What's been staring me in the face my entire life? Girls bitten, bodies drained of blood, mysterious animal attacks... I mean, we live in a city of nearly 400,000 people, landlocked in a concrete jungle. There aren't any wild animals for miles, let alone any wooded areas. Why my parents never let me go out after dark, why Mom has been so tight lipped about the girl's school she's ran with Aunt Buffy for as long as I can remember. And if that isn't proof enough, my parents showing me proof of it all - that Mom's a witch and Dad's a werewolf, on top of being told that I'm a witch, like Mom, and that I'm a "slayer"? That Uncle Angel and Uncle Spike used to be vampires and are now human? I don't know what to make of it all, everything's running together in my head and I haven't been able to process it yet. I just... I don't know what to do, or how I'm feeling yet. None of it's sunk in._

Ariel closed her diary, tossing it onto her desk before pacing for minutes on end, agitatedly, wearing holes in the carpet, hand raking back through her fiery red hair. She'd locked her bedroom door, and thankfully neither Willow or Oz had tried to talk to her since the big revelation earlier that evening. Finally, with a huge breath, she laid on her bed, staring up at her ceiling, wondering what it all meant for her. Her parents' had told her that the time had come for, not only her to know, but all of their friends' kids. Some names she recognized - Katherine, Elena, Bonnie, Liam, Alex, Damon, Alaric, Kylie - and even remembered some of them vaguely from when they were younger.

But the names Celeste, Daphne, and Peter had no meaning to her whatsoever. She didn't even have the foggiest memory of ever hearing their names before... but she had this nagging feeling that she was going to find out, and this was just the tip of the iceberg. For all of them.

* * *

_Bremen, Georgia - 6:32 pm_

"Katherine? Katherine?!" Buffy yelled into her phone, alarmed. She looked over at Angel, who was driving the car. Giles was sitting in the back. The phone had been on speaker, so they'd all heard the screams, the screeching of tires, the distinct sound of a large splash before the call had dropped. "Angel." She hadn't even finished saying his name as they were pressed back against their seats when Angel stomped on the gas, pushing the pedal to the floor.

* * *

_New York City, New York - Same Time_

"Thanks for taking me shopping, Dad." Celeste said, her light blonde hair shining in the vibrant multitude of lights illuminating their street as they walked towards their apartment. Connor threw his arm over he and Dawn's 14 year old daughter's shoulder as he breathed in the chilly night air. "You're welcome... I just hope my life savings didn't take a major hit after your little marathon." She laughed, slipping her arm around his waist, shivering slightly from the cold air.

"I wasn't that bad, geez." She studied his profile for a few moments before asking the one thing she'd been wondering all night. "Was there any particular reason for our impromptu shopping venture?" He sighed, cursing the fact that she had always been impressively perceptive, even at her young age. "Yeah, I... uh. Your mother and I..." He fumbled, trying to find the words to lighten the bomb he was about to drop on her. When Willow had called earlier, gently informing both he and Dawn that Celeste was a slayer, along with all of the group's daughters, sans Bonnie, they had both been floored.

He honestly was still trying to process it.

"What a lovely moment." He stiffened, his vamp sense going haywire, and he cursed himself for not paying more attention to his surroundings. He'd never been so careless before. They both turned, Celeste screaming when the figure passed under one of the street lights, catching her first glimpse of a vampire. He could only imagine what she was thinking; what excuses her mind was coming up with to logically explain what she was seeing.

He rolled his eyes before reaching in his jacket pocket, producing a stake, and quickly driving it into the vampire's heart. The vamp sent him a shocked expression as he crumbled to dust before their eyes. Nervously, he turned back to his daughter, whose eyes were glued to the small pile of ashes on the sidewalk. "What just-" He cut her off, taking her by the arm and practically dragging her down the street toward their apartment complex, trying to prepare himself for the conversation that was to come.

* * *

_Bremen, Georgia - 6:33 pm_

Katherine came to, coughing and disoriented. She looked down when she realized her lower body felt like ice and saw that water had filled the car nearly halfway full. She glanced back at Elena and then to Liam, seeing that they had both just recovered too. Frantically, she grabbed the door handle and pushed with all of her strength, her fear skyrocketing when it didn't budge and the water began rising at an alarming rate as the car began sinking into the river. Both Liam and Elena had done the same, achieving the same results as their older sister. "Kat?!" They both began yelling panickedly. "It's okay. We're gonna be fine." She tried to reassure them both, bracing herself against the dashboard as she pounded on the roof of the old truck, somehow thinking that she could escape that way.

"We're gonna be okay, I promise." She told them, still struggling to find a way out as the water rose to their necks. She tried to break the window with her elbow, but the truck was already submerged, making it virtually impossible to do so. "It's okay, we're gonna be okay." She kept chanting, saying it to them over and over in a mantra. "Mom, Dad, and Giles know where we are, they're coming for us." She told them just as the water rose above their mouths and noses, cutting off their air. They tried to unbuckle their seat belts, but to no avail. They were stuck. Their only hope was to hold their breath until their parents got there, but who knows how far away they were?

* * *

_Austin, Texas - Same Time_

An insistent knock sounded against the door to her bedroom, which she was currently sitting against, her head leaned back with her eyes squeezed shut. She sighed heavily, wanting for everyone to just leave her alone as she let everything sink in. "Go away." She didn't want to see either of them, didn't want to listen to the excuses they'd give her as to why she wasn't told about this sooner. That they'd fought demons and darkness and had even fought in an all out apocalypse... That they'd both died - her mom months before the actual fight and her dad in the middle of a true-blue suicide mission to take down a powerful warlock.

That they'd been resurrected shortly after the battle was over because they still had a greater purpose to fulfill.

That demons and vampires, things of fairy tales, were actually real and walked among them every day... or night, rather.

That she, just some plain jane girl from Texas, had been chosen, out of literally hundreds of thousands, to take on the burden of fighting evil. Even though both Fred and Wesley had reassured her that being a slayer wasn't a solo deal anymore, it did little to comfort her. What kind of a life could she have if she was trapped in darkness? If she was forever bound to fighting the creatures that went bump in the night?

"Come on, Daph. Open up." If it had been Fred or Wesley, she would've simply told them to leave her alone again, but this time it was older brother. He understood her and would listen to her while her parents would just shower her with weak assurances that it wouldn't be that bad.

She picked herself up off the floor and unlocked the door before situating herself on the ground, leaning back against her bed. Peter walked in, shutting and locking the door before joining her on the floor. A series of long, but comfortable, silences passed between them before he eventually spoke. "You can talk to me about it, ya know. I mean, I know I can't possibly even begin to understand, but I want to try. It's better than what Mom and Dad are trying to do."

She turned her head and looked into his blue eyes - eyes that he'd inherited from their father - seeing the truth in both them and his words. "I just... honestly, I don't know what to think. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. On one hand I'm this wicked cool, almost superhero-esque, "slayer", and a witch, but on the other... I'm just a kid, Pete... And I'm scared." She wiped a singular tear away when it trickled down her cheek after escaping the corner of her brown eyes. "I'm 15. I'm not supposed to be worrying about anything related to life and death yet, and now I'm expected to play the dutiful little girl and go off and slay monsters or perform spells while I'd rather be at home studying?"

He wrapped his arm around her in comfort, and she responded by laying her head on his shoulder. "Listen, Daph... I know that this isn't what you thought about when you envisioned the future, who would? But, I also know that it could be really rewarding. You have a chance to do real good, to help people, to protect them when they can't protect themselves - to save them even when they don't know they need to be saved. You could make a real impact on peoples' _lives_."

She knew he was right, and she understood what he was saying. She wanted to do that, but she was scared about what she'd have to sacrifice in order to do it. "It's your choice to make. I know you're way too young to be having to make a decision this massive, but I want you to know that I'll have your back." Not believing what she was hearing, she pulled back so that she could look into his eyes. "When you say you have my back, you mean-"

"I'm gonna be with you on this, 110%." He nodded. "I'll learn how to fight, I'll train, I'll be shoulder to shoulder with you. You won't be alone, I swear." He knew that was what she was most worried about. She let out a huge breath before hugging him fiercely, almost painfully tight. "Thanks." He dropped a kiss on her crown as they continued to sit in silence, both still trying to completely absorb everything.

* * *

_Bremen, Georgia - 6:38 pm_

Buffy, Angel, and Giles drove up to the bridge 5 minutes later, coming to a screeching halt, creating skid marks on the asphalt. They all leapt out of the car and ran up to the concrete wall, looking over and trying to find the truck. Through the murky water, they could barely see the submerged vehicle as it sat on the riverbed. "Giles, go down to the banks. When we get them out, start CPR." Buffy said, knowing that it would be smarter and safer for all of them that way. Giles took off running for the other end of the bridge as Buffy and Angel jumped over the side of the bridge and began swimming down to the car.

* * *

_Phoenix, Arizona - Same Time_

"How am I supposed to even begin to explain it, Wills?" Xander said into his phone as he paced back and forth in their small two bedroom home. "_Just be honest. Tell him the truth. Honestly, he and Peter have it the easiest." _He laughed once without humor. "He has it easy? Willow, his mother is a higher being who died in 2004. Forget the vampire crap. How am I supposed to explain that?! I mean, where do I even start?" He ran a hand through his dark hair, eyeing the door warily. Alex was due home from school any minute, and he had no idea what he was going to do.

"_At the beginning." _She answered simply. He collapsed onto the couch. "_We need him, Xand. We need all of them. I always knew, and though Buffy never told me, I know she knew too, deep down, that one day we weren't going to be here anymore. Another group has to be ready to shoulder that responsibility."_

"But why does it have to be our kids, Willow? Couldn't it be anyone else? Why them?" He asked in defeat, understanding and even agreeing with what she was saying. "_Would you trust anyone else? Be honest with me. Would you just be able to hand over something as important as, I don't know, the world, to a group that you didn't know as well, that you didn't trust with your life? Because I wouldn't, and neither would Buffy or the rest of them." _The sound of the door opening made him swallow thickly before gathering his courage.

"_Alright, Alex is home... I'll talk to you later." _Willow knew exactly what he wasn't saying, and considered it a bittersweet victory as he hung up.

* * *

_Bremen, Georgia - Same Time_

Katherine fought to stay conscious, her lungs screaming for air as she continued to try holding her breath. Liam and Elena had lost consciousness already, leaving her trying to shake both of them awake. The only reason that she was still conscious was because she was more used to holding her breath than they were. On top of being the head cheerleader, she was also captain of the women's swim team at her school during the off season for football, and had been swimming on a club team since she was little. She typically went straight to that practice after running the cheerleading one. Despite her lungs being more adjusted to going longer periods of time without oxygen, this was pushing her far past her limits.

Unconsciously, her lungs forced her to attempt taking a breath, sending a rush of icy water down into her lungs, making her try to draw in another one to compensate. Suddenly, she saw a face appear at her window, causing her to suck in another breath in surprise. Her mom began to try and force the door open, but Katherine caught her attention by shaking her head and wagging a finger at her before pointing to Liam and Elena. They needed to be rescued first. She could wait. After deliberating for a moment, her mother honored her request and moved to the backseat door, wrenching it from it's place with superhuman strength and ripping the seat belt off before dragging Elena's unconscious body out with her.

Her dad was on the other side of the car, doing the same thing that Buffy had done and dragged Liam out. Katherine felt relieved, knowing that she'd given them the best chance of survival possible at this point. Her lungs, which had been demanding air had filled up with so much water to the point where she truly was drowning. She couldn't draw breath, and she could feel the oxygen deprivation begin to affect her body. Her limbs felt numb and tingly, she began to feel incredibly tired to the point where she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. She wasn't naive, she knew she was dying. She didn't want to die, but she if died saving her brother and sister's life, then so be it. Her vision began to fade as she lost consciousness and her heart stuttered a few more times before it went silent.

* * *

_French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana - Same Time_

Spike walked into the dingy apartment that Damon moved into a few weeks prior, hoping against hope that Kylie had simply come here instead of running off to god-knows-where, on tonight of all nights!

He stopped dead in the entryway to the small living room as he watched his son draining the life of some promiscuously dressed girl away as two others danced around his apartment, scantily dressed, to the music that was blaring loudly from the cheap speakers in the corner. The smell of alcohol was prevalent, pungently so, and it made even him of all people want to gag. All three girls had dried blood on their necks, telling Spike that Damon had been at this for a few hours.

He moved just a tad bit closer, and he wished he hadn't, because then he saw several human feet sticking out from behind the couch, bloodied and gored, signaling that his son had clearly gone off the deep end. "Damon." The dark haired man drew his head away from the girl's neck, his fangs present and his eyes nearly blood red around his blue irises, veins prominently standing out against the pale canvas of his skin, and blood absolutely covering the lower half of his face.

"Pops." He smirked, stepping away from the girl to talk to him. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Are you bloody well insane?" Damon rolled his eyes. "If you're worried about anyone finding out about this, they won't. Whoever stumbles in here will be dead before they could even draw breath." Spike watched him with wide eyes as Damon laughed carelessly before turning back to his meal. While he was distracted, Spike quickly grabbed one of the girls by the arm. "Leave this place and remember nothing that's happened here." He watched her eyes go blank before nodding robotically and leaving the apartment. He did the same with the other.

After they left, he surged forward and ripped his oldest away from the last girl and thralled her to do the same. Damon growled, frustrated and angry that Spike was ruining his fun again. He always ruined everything, he and Faith. They didn't accept him for what he was, it was why he'd moved out and dropped out of school. "Pops, don't be like this, I was just having some fun!" He didn't expect the surge of righteous anger he felt rolling off of him in waves. "I don't give a damn about what fun you're having right now! I came looking here for Kylie."

"Kyles? Why would she have come to me?" Spike shook his head. "She was called as a slayer tonight. We had to tell her everything, and when I say everything, I-" Damon cut him off. "About what I am?" Damon chuckled. "When are you and Faith gonna realize that I don't care, about any of it. Nothing matters to me anymore." Spike's eyes - identical to his - hardened dangerously. "I'm done here... with you." Damon didn't know why, but his father's answer shocked him. He wasn't just saying he was done at that moment, he was saying he was done with him period.

He also didn't know why fear and desperation welled up in him with startling force, either. Spike pushed past him violently, moving to the door without so much as another look at him. Quickly, Damon employed his preternatural speed to prevent him from leaving. He grabbed his shoulders tightly, feeling an overwhelming sense of impending loss wash over him. "You hate me. I know, I know, I haven't been the poster child for perfection or even sanity, but I'm sorry. You don't have to-Pops, I'll do better, I-"

"No. You're going to end up getting us all killed... And if that's the way you're headed, then you can do that to yourself, but your mother, Kylie, Ric, and I? We're done. Leave us out of it." And then he pushed past his oldest son and left the apartment, never looking back.

* * *

_Bremen, Georgia - 6:40 pm_

Angel swam to the surface, carrying his oldest daughter's dead weight in his arms. Her body was like ice, as were Liam and Elena's. He ran up to the riverbank with her body, over to where Giles and Buffy were with Elena and Liam. Buffy looked up at him, tears in her eyes, as she sat next to Elena's unmoving, pale body. He could see in her eyes the words that she couldn't voice out loud. Tears pricking his eyes, he looked over at Giles who sat with Liam, his stomach dropping when Giles shook his head sadly. He quickly placed Katherine on the ground, trying to get her to wake up. "Katherine! Katherine, honey." He said, shaking her. She remained unmoving.

He leaned down and checked her pulse, hearing only silence. He pulled back and placed both hands on her chest and began performing CPR. "Come on, Katherine. Breathe damn it!" He said, as he tried to get her lungs to begin functioning again. Buffy came over and began to help him, blowing air into her daughter's mouth while he performed chest compressions. After doing it for nearly ten minutes straight without response, they finally stopped.

Buffy crawled over into Angel's arms, both crying. Giles had pulled off his glasses and was wiping his eyes a few feet away. "Angel." Buffy whimpered, and he pressed her closer to him. "I know." He murmured. Three of their four children, three of their miracles, were dead.

* * *

_French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana - 9:45 pm_

Kylie jolted awake, sitting up with a loud gasp as the world came into focus again. She was still in the alley - laying on the ground, actually - right where the vampire had dropped her after... Her hand flew to her neck, feeling the two twin puncture wounds and the stickiness of the dried blood coating her skin.

How was she still alive?

She let out a few shaky breaths before pushing herself into a standing position, her hand moving down to her throat as a fiery, agonizing pain ignited there. It was almost unbearable. The rest of her body wasn't much better. _Everything_ hurt - from the tips of her toes all the way up to her head. She had to stumble against the wall for support as it all crashed down on her with startling force. She wanted to cry, wanted to scream - she'd do anything to make the pain stop.

She also realized that she was extremely hungry. She would kill for something to eat right about now. "_Damnit!" _She heard a muffled voice - one that came from the street - exclaim frustratedly. "_Now I'm really gonna have to get that tetanus shot. That really fucking hurt!" _She ventured closer, just peeking out of the alley to look into the street. She just saw a blonde head disappear around the far street corner before her eyes were drawn to a long, thick red smear on the brick wall a few feet away from her.

The smell made her mouth water, and her stomach begged her to go to it and alleviate all the pain - promising that it would make it stop. Without even thinking, she shuffled over to it and swiped a bit of the red substance onto her finger and brought it to her mouth.

She had no idea that she'd just made an irreversible decision that would have horrifying consequences.

"Kyles!" She turned to see her blonde older brother running towards her, but all she saw was food. She needed more, wanted more, craved more.

Not even a minute later her fangs were embedded in his neck, literally draining his life away.

* * *

_Bremen, Georgia - 10:00 pm_

A few hours later, the three of them were sitting alone in the Bremen morgue, looking down silently at the three bodies. The paramedics arrived not long after Angel and Buffy had ceased performing CPR on their oldest, but it'd still been too late. They hadn't been able to revive any of them. The bodies had been brought to the morgue, where they'd be prepared for burial in a few days time. At their insistence, and a little bit of thralling, they'd been allowed to come in and say their goodbyes. The football game had been canceled and the news had already spread around that the three elder O'Connor children were gone.

There was no doubt that Bonnie knew already, but they'd asked Michelle's mother to keep her there for the night. She didn't need to be subjected to this. She was far too young to have lost all three of her older were both terrified of how she was going to react.

The bodies each laid on a different steel gurney undisturbed. Angel, Buffy, and Giles were all standing simply staring down at the bodies, Angel's arm around Buffy's waist and her hand fisted in his shirt. The room was silent. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since entering the room. The silence of the room was interrupted by Liam's body fidgeting slightly before he lurched, his eyes flying open and gasping as he tried to draw in air to his long deprived lungs. Angel, Buffy, and Giles stared at him in shock as he panted and drew in as much air as possible. Suddenly, Elena's eyes shot open like Liam's had and she gasped for breath.

Elena rolled her head to the side, clearly disoriented. "Mom? Dad? Giles?" She rasped out dryly, her voice cracking terribly before she coughed, expelling some water from her lungs. At hearing Elena's voice, Liam turned his head toward both her and their parents and grandfather. "Elena?" He said, relieved, coughing like Elena had. "Mom? Dad? Giles?" He repeated her as they came into focus. "Liam?" Elena gasped, turning towards him and smiling in relief. "What happened?" She groaned, placing a hand on her forehead, wincing as even that minute motion caused pain to ripple through her body.

Angel, Buffy, and Giles' eyes all met before Angel took charge. "Get Elena and Liam out of here. I'll wait for Katherine to wake up and then I'll meet you at the car." They nodded, moving to help Elena and Liam rise shakily to their feet, before both almost collapsed. Buffy and Giles caught them and supported them as they began walking to the back entrance that would lead out to the car. Angel turned back to Katherine's still, silent body after they'd left. Truthfully, he didn't even know if she was going to wake up. Just because Elena and Liam had didn't necessarily mean that she was going to, but he had this feeling in his gut. She was going to wake up, but what would she - all of them - be?

He wasn't naive enough to think that it had nothing to do with them being half vampire, because that was the only logical explanation at the moment. He'd still been a vampire when he and Buffy had conceived all three of them, hell, even when they'd conceived Bonnie. It hadn't been until after Bonnie had been born that he'd magically become human again. He and Buffy had lived for the past 15 years under the false hope that their kids would actually get to have normal, human lives, but when had that ever been the case with them? They should've known that they wouldn't have been able to escape that world for long. Sure, he and Buffy would occasionally go to the town's graveyard after a suspicious death, like an animal attack, but that was the extent of their - well, at least his - patrolling nowadays.

After Katherine woke and they all went back home, one of the first things he'd do would be to call Spike and Faith, something he'd never imagine himself doing before his kids had been born, but over the years, he and Spike had actually become friends, as had Buffy and Faith. They had so many similarities with them that it made it easy to bond, with Angel and Spike both being ensouled vampires and Buffy and Faith being slayers for one. Another thing was that like Angel and Buffy, Spike and Faith had had three kids together - while Spike had still been a vampire. They'd actually had Damon, their oldest, three years before Buffy and Angel had Katherine and Elena.

Damon had been the result of a one night stand turned into a real, lasting relationship. They'd been married soon after Damon had been born, Faith saying that she didn't want to look like a cow on her wedding day. No one had seen it coming, but the funny thing was that Spike and Faith made sense. They liked the same things and their personalities just fit together. They'd gone on to have two kids after that, Alaric and Kylie. Alaric was like a miniature Spike, from the blonde hair to the blue eyes, and Kylie was like Faith, dark hair and eyes, with that signature fiery personality. When their kids were younger, they'd have play dates whenever either family was in town for a visit.

Spike and Faith had moved to New Orleans soon after marrying, and they'd been there ever since. Damon, Alaric, Kylie, Katherine, Elena, Bonnie and Liam had all gotten along fairly well. Bonnie had been a toddler then, just learning how to walk, and had simply followed the other six around until she couldn't run anymore. Alaric had been infatuated with Elena from a young age, but Elena wouldn't even give him the time of day, preferring to play with Kylie. Alaric, Katherine, and Elena were the same age, as were Kylie and Liam. Elena would get so frustrated with Liam when Kylie wanted to spend more time with him than her. Those two had blatantly had crushes on each other from the start, and Faith and Angel had even joked that they'd be in-laws one day because of those two. Damon and Katherine had been another story entirely. They'd banter and play with each other, even when Katherine was young, fighting even despite their great age difference. Damon thought of Katherine as his annoying little sister and vice versa, but Spike had claimed that the best relationships started that way. Even to this day he still swore that somehow they'd end up falling in love with each other, but Angel couldn't see that happening... didn't want to think about it either.

The steady rhythmic sound of Katherine's heartbeat picking up turned Angel's thoughts back to the present. He shook his head wryly at her still unconscious form as her heartbeat regulated. Not only was she a fighter, but she'd tried to be a hero. She'd put Elena and Liam's lives before her own, and he was so proud of her for that. "Takes a lickin' keeps on tickin'." He murmured. She'd always been a survivor, and though she hadn't technically survived this, she was still here. Buffy'd experienced difficulties trying to carry all of them to term, especially Katherine and Elena, and there'd been a scare during that pregnancy where none of them had been sure if any of them would make it. Spike and Faith had experienced similar problems, though not nearly as severe.

She suddenly lurched, almost jackknifing off the steel slab, gasping greedily for air. Her head nearly slammed back down on the gurney like the effort had expended most of her energy. She brought a hand up to her forehead, much like Elena had, and she squinted, trying to make things come into focus.

She was so confused. She'd thought - she was sure - that she'd died. She'd felt peace in the nothingness, and to be dragged back so abruptly was extremely disorienting. Everything was so loud, and bright, but yet not at the same time. She couldn't describe it. "Am I in hell?" She groaned, her voice rasping and cracking. "Not quite." She turned her head, wincing as her neck protested the movement. "Daddy?" She asked, clearly confused. "Hey baby." He said, reaching out a hand and stroking her hair. "Wha-what happened?" She glanced around the room, taking in the metal slab she was laying on, the metal instruments situated at different places in the room, the wall of square shaped drawers with handles on them... was she in a morgue?!

Alarmed, she tried to stand too quickly, ignoring the sharp pain that ignited in nearly every muscle in her body as she tried to stay upright by herself. She began swaying, dizziness and nausea winning as she promptly passed out and fell directly into Angel. He swung her up into his arms, and began walking toward the back door of the morgue just as the coroner came in. "What are you doing?" He asked, alarmed. Angel sighed and looked the man straight in the eye. "You did the autopsy and confirmed that all three causes of death were drowning. We requested that they be buried immediately. When asked about the bodies, say that they are already at the nursing home. The funeral will be held in three days time and you will forget about this and move on." He said, thralling the man before walking out the back door.

Even after regaining his humanity, some of his vampiric abilities had lingered, like his strength and agility, his heightened senses, and his ability to thrall. He guessed it'd been a little gift from the Powers That Be... A peace offering of sorts.

He walked to the car and opened it, gingerly placing Katherine's body in the back seat by Liam and Elena. Giles was in the third row. He closed the door and then slid into the driver's seat. Buffy touched his arm nervously. "She's okay." He reassured her, hearing her let out a deep breath in relief. "She just passed out. She was conscious far longer than Liam and Elena were, it wouldn't surprise me if she sleeps for a few more hours." He said, starting the car and driving out of the morgue parking lot. "Dad? What's going on?" Liam asked, groaning again. Elena winced. "Yeah, everything's so loud." She moaned. She brought her hands up to her teeth, massaging her gums. "And my teeth really hurt." Angel and Buffy shared a glance, and Giles' eyes caught theirs in the rear view mirror. "What do you guys know about vampires?"

* * *

_French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana - 11:30 pm_

"Kyles!" He was just able to pinpoint her dark brown hair peeking around the corner of a dank alley. He ran towards it, not seeing the body until he was next to her. She was sitting on the ground, tears streaming down her face, blood smeared across her chin as she looked on the sight of Alaric's pale corpse, a gaping wound torn into his neck. "Damon?" She asked quietly, still not looking at him. She couldn't believe what she'd just done, couldn't believe that she'd... oh god.

"Kyles? Kylie, hey, look at me, look at me." He used a hand on her cheek to turn her face toward his. The guilt and self loathing in her eyes made him want to punch something. Maybe if he'd been there, if he would've known... He could've stopped this. He hadn't wished this, on either of them. They didn't deserve it. "This is not your fault." She shook her head, more tears falling from her brown eyes. He knew it wasn't her fault - she couldn't have known what she was doing at the time. The hunger made you do things that you would never dream of doing until it was calling you.

You'd do anything, kill anyone, just to have one drop of blood to satisfy it.

"Did you hear me, this is not your fault." He stressed again, pulling her against him. "You couldn't control it, I should know. I understand. You don't have to worry - Ric will be fine, I promise." As if responding to his words, Alaric suddenly gasped, his eyes flying open as his lungs greedily took in whatever air they could grab ahold of. Kylie merely watched with wide eyes as Damon moved away from her to help Ric up, letting himself take some of his weight.

"Ugh, what happened?" He rasped, his hand coming up to massage his throat that was now burning like someone had taken a flamethrower to it. Damon watched him for a few moments before making a life changing decision - for all of them. He leaned Alaric up against the alley wall before walking a little ways down the street, and after a short minute, returned with a pretty girl in tow. "I thought you said we were going to your apartment." The blonde said dumbly, obviously not terribly bright.

"You won't scream, you won't fight. You'll do everything I say." Her pupils dilated as her face went blank, succumbing to the mind compulsion that he'd subjected her to. Without further preamble, he'd slid his fangs into her throat, waiting until her blood began to flow freely before pulling away and dragging her over to Ric. "Ric! Look at me." He commanded, pulling the blonde closer to his brother and swiping the girl's hair away from her neck, allowing him to see the blood flowing from her wound.

Kylie watched helplessly as Ric's gaze zeroed in on the girl's neck before leaning in. "Damon, stop! Don't do this, please! I- oh god." She gagged as Ric began drinking her blood, his face transforming into their kinds' version of what their parents would call their "game faces" as he bit down harder, draining her dry. Kylie couldn't stop the borrowed blood - her own brother's blood - rushing up from her stomach as she emptied it onto the asphalt due to the absolute horror of it all.

* * *

_French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana - 12:30 am_

"Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Spike yelled, getting right up in Damon's face. He and Faith had sent Kylie and Alaric up to their rooms as soon as they'd gotten home. "I did what I had to do." Damon insisted with a straight face. He wasn't sorry about his decision, not in the slightest. He wanted his siblings to live, in whatever way, shape or form that was. "No, you made a selfish decision without Ric's consent. Jesus, son. You of all people should know how violating that is."

"Like you did with me?" He said quietly, making Spike freeze. "Believe it or not, I did what I did because I care about him! I did what I did because I care about her, too! How would she react if she really had killed him, huh?" He asked rhetorically before plowing on. "I made the hard choice so no one else had to." He glanced up in the direction of their bedrooms, knowing that they could hear him now with their preternatural hearing. "And they can hate me for it for all I care." He spat before pivoting and walking out the front door, slamming it, ending this fight just like all the others - with him running away from responsibility.

Spike watched him go, actual tears pricking the backs of his eyes for the first time in a long time, when Faith's cell rang. "Willow." She answered, not being able to get anymore out before Spike had grabbed the phone and began explaining everything that had happened that night as the redhead on the opposite end of the line listened attentively.

* * *

_Bremen, Georgia - 8:00 am_

The noise of a lawn mower in the distance penetrated her otherwise dreamless sleep. She could hear dogs barking, sirens, people talking, birds chirping. The combined ambiance of the sounds woke her. She gasped, bolting upright in bed, looking around panickedly as she scrambled, remembering the feel of the cool metal slab digging into her back. She glanced around confusedly, still panicking slightly, before she noticed her dad and mom sitting on her bed, and Giles seated on her bay window sill. "Mom? Dad?" She questioned, blinking as the sunlight poured into her room from her window, making her head ache.

"Hey, we're right here, sweetie." Buffy said, reaching out and grabbing Katherine's hand. "You've been out for hours." Angel said, watching her carefully. Liam and Elena had taken the news rather well, all things considered, but he wasn't sure how Katherine would take it. "Wha-what happened?" Giles took off his glasses and began cleaning them on his shirt. "You were in an accident." Her head whipped over to him, not liking the look on his face. She suddenly remembered said accident with startling clarity. The impact of the truck hitting the water, the way her lungs burned as they filled with water and continued to go without air, her adamance that Elena and Liam be saved before her... Her eyes met each of theirs. "Oh my god, Liam and Elena are they -?" She stopped when Angel reached out his hand and stroked her hair.

"They're fine." She let out a deep breath. "Thank you." She murmured, happy that she had been able to save them in a sense. She thought back to her dream, or nightmare, where she'd woken up in the morgue with her dad. That's all it had been, a bad dream. She shook her head. "I thought I had..." She trailed off, swallowing thickly. She looked up at them all questioningly. "How did you-?" Buffy interrupted her. "Save you?" She asked. Angel shook his head. "We didn't." She scowled, not understanding. "What do you mean 'you didn't'? I'm right here." She asked. "Katherine, what do you know about vampires?" Giles asked and her head swung to him. "What does this have to do with anything?" She shook her head in denial. "Are you saying that I'm a vampire? Because there's a few problems with that theory." She said, ticking them all off on her fingers. "One: I've never seen a vampire in my life. Two: I've never been bitten by one. Three: I've never drank from one. And last but not least, four: Vampires aren't real."

Angel shook his head sadly. "That's where you're wrong. Vampires are real." She looked at him, like she couldn't believe that he was serious. "No, no, you're lying." She said, shaking her head. "No, I'm really not. Katherine, you were born half vampire. You all were." He said and she looked at him in disbelief. She thought back to how her dad dogged her about covering up more, how old-fashioned he was about everything, his morals, his beliefs... She looked up at him with sudden understanding. It all made sense. To be half vampire, one of her parents had to be one."It's you, isn't it?" She asked, not realizing how that sounded until it came out. She apologized profusely before leaning back against the pillows on her bed with a hand on her forehead. "How? I mean, I've seen you age, listened your heartbeat, felt your warmth."

"I'm human now, but I've only been human for twelve years." She looked at him then, really looked at him. She'd always thought he was an old soul, stuck in a fairly young father's body. He was only 39, in human years at least, and so was her mom, now she knew why his eyes looked like they'd aged centuries - because they probably had. "How old are you?" Angel looked at her for a few seconds before talking to Giles and Buffy, never looking away from Katherine. "Could you guys go check on Elena and Liam?" They both nodded, and stood up. Buffy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder for a few seconds. His hand came up to massage hers for a moment before letting go as she removed her hand and followed Giles out the door, closing it and giving them privacy.

Katherine watched as they left. Angel got up and closed her blinds, turning on a light. She smiled at him in thanks. He sat back down on the bed and it took her a few seconds to speak. "How old are you?" He seemed to deliberate for a few seconds. How had it been so easy to explain this to his younger two when he didn't know where to start with her? They were closer than his other kids; she always had been. She was his little girl, and he was more than a little afraid of what she'd think of him after this. "In total I'm 295 years old." She spent more than a few moments absorbing the information. He'd lived through so many major events in history - the French &amp; Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, both World Wars... the list went on and on.

Her love of history had spawned off of Angel's, and now she realized there was a reason he was so knowledgable. She leaned her head back against the wall, stunned. She imagined 100, maybe 150 years... but almost 300? That was insane. She stared at the ceiling. "So you were born in 1727?" She ascertained, doing the math in her head. She didn't have to see his nod of affirmation to know she was right. He was older than the United States, by practically a lifetime. The things he'd no doubt witnessed, the historical events he'd actually been there to see... the entire thing was mind boggling. "So, how long were you a vampire?" He had to have been fairly young. The younger version of him that she'd remembered had been around the same age as her mother.

"256 years." She closed her eyes. 'Wow' was the only word that would sum up what she was feeling right now. He'd told her, given her a simple explanation to why she was a vampire, but she wanted to know more. "Who were you?" She asked, mentally wincing as she realized how that sounded. "I mean, what were you like, before you were turned?" She amended, head still leaned back against the wall, eyes still closed. He laughed bitterly, a sound she'd never heard come from him before. She opened her eyes and took her head away from the wall, more than a little stunned at his reaction. "I was nothing to write home about, that's for sure." His eyes took on an almost haunted quality, one that screamed regret and shame, something that she'd never seen from him before. Whoever he'd been before she was born, he was a completely different man than her father today.

"I was born in 1727, in Galway, Ireland." He began, and she had known beforehand that he'd been at least partly Irish. She'd always been partial to the culture and it's customs, mainly to the rings that her parents had on both their fingers. She thought the meaning behind the claddagh rings was lovely, but now she realized that their wedding rings had a totally different, deeper meaning. He'd probably had her mother's for centuries. The rings were possibly centuries old, probably family heirlooms. Most likely, they were the only things left of his family. "My da was a linen and silk merchant." A slight twinge of his no doubt repressed Irish accent came back then, and Katherine loved the sound. It should sound wrong and awkward, seeing that she'd only heard him talk in an American accent her entire life, but it didn't. It felt right, like he should've been singing her Irish lullabies to lull her to sleep when she was little.

Then she remembered his singing voice.

On second thought... If it was anything like his Barry Manilow 'Mandy' rendition, she'd gladly take a pass.

When he didn't mention his mother, she assumed it was because she'd been the typical stay at home maternal figure, which had been the norm. Their only job had been to take care of the house and bear the babies. "As a human, I was nothing more than a drunken, whoring layabout who was overly ambitious. I wanted to see the world, and I wanted to meet someone interesting, not like the typical women of my time." His description of his much, much younger self shocked her. Him, a lazy, drunken womanizer? The thought was so ridiculous, she nearly laughed. "Lemme guess, they were pretty boring?" She asked sarcastically.

She earned a small smile from him. "Boring is putting it nicely." He shot back. She grinned, glad that he was coming back to his normal, teasing self. She hated seeing him like that. It almost looked like he was drowning in several lifetimes worth of guilt. "And what would be putting it blatantly?" She hedged, still teasing him. "They were incredibly dull, simpering morons, the lot of them. The noble women were the worst." She did laugh then. She'd have to ask him about history and culture more often now, she was thoroughly enjoying this. It was taking her mind off of earlier. She fingered her comforter as she looked over at him. "I think you succeeded in meeting someone interesting." She said with a small smile, referring to her mother. He smiled back and nodded minutely.

"Yeah, I did." He murmured before clearing his throat. "Anyways," he began, "by the time I was in my twenties, I was a huge disappointment to my parents. My father constantly reminded me that I was worthless, and my mother never made a move to disagree. The only person who truly cared about me was my little sister, Kathy." Kathy. Kathryn. She'd been named after his little sister? She'd been named after the one person in his entire stint as a human who'd cared about him? "I was named after her." She said, not stating it as a question, but as a revelation. She knew that she had been. He'd always told her that her name held great significance to him personally, and now she knew why, and she also knew why he couldn't tell her before.

"Yes. And you remind me of her every day with the way you act and the way you look. Both you and Elena look so much like her..." He swallowed thickly, and she knew it was difficult for him to admit this. He'd probably buried it so deep down, that to dig it back up caused him extreme emotional pain. "She was the one good thing in my human life, and both you and Elena are walking reminders of her." He glanced back down at his hands for a moment. "You know what your names mean, don't you?" He asked, looking back up to meet her eyes once again. She shook her head. She'd never really thought about it honestly, didn't think their names had any special meaning. "Well, Katherine means 'purity' which, ironically enough, fits both you and her perfectly. Your middle name, Elizabeth, is..." Katherine interrupted him.

"I know, Elizabeth is mom's name." She thought for a minute, "What about Elena, Liam, and Bonnie?" She asked. "Elena means 'light' which is another word I'd use to describe my sister, and Joyce was your grandmother's name. Bonnie means 'pretty' or 'beautiful', and her middle name, Cordelia, was the name of one of your mother and I's friends who died before you were born. Liam was my name when I was human and Doyle was a dear friend of mine a long time ago who died entirely too soon." His eyes took on that haunted quality again. She was determined to remove it. "We're getting off topic here." She prompted, desperately wanting to steer him away from the guilt inducing topic. Whoever Doyle was, and Cordelia, for that matter, their deaths had done a number on her dad. He cleared his throat. "You're right... where was I?" He asked her.

"Your parents being unreasonably cruel to you." Her tone made him smile minutely. "I guess the next thing was being turned into a vampire." She leaned forward, crossing her legs, still on the bed, and sat up straight - her back was beginning to hurt from sagging against the wall for too long. "The year was 1753. One night, after heavily drinking, I tried to seduce my family's maidservant and wasn't terrible successful." She had to struggle not to laugh. The thought of her father trying to woo anyone but her mother was simply absurd to her. "We got into a very heated argument, where I eventually declared that I was leaving home, which my father told me was an idiotic idea. I went to a tavern afterwards and got even more drunk."

She'd seen her father drink, but he'd always been able to hold his liquor. Combine that incongruity with his apparent previously scandalous ways, the picture that was painted for her didn't resemble her father at all. This younger, human version of himself was a stranger to her, in every possible way. "As I was leaving the pub, I saw an aristocratic looking woman in a nearby alley. For some reason, I followed her. When I came upon her, she wooed me with the promise of showing me a whole new world, then she sired me." Katherine had to restrain herself from making an Aladdin joke. "Just like that?" Katherine asked. He nodded. "Just like that." She leaned back against the wall again, exhaling loudly. To have your life come to an end, seemingly cut short, just like that? To be cut down in your prime, that was a horrible thing. She had a sneaking suspicion that he was still withholding a great deal of information from her.

"What happened after?" She saw him wince and that look came back full force. His shoulders hunched and she could practically feel him get his brood on, something that she'd heard her mom joke about every now and then, but she'd never actually seen him do. "It's... not pretty." He hedged, obviously trying to get her to drop it. "I don't care. I need to know, Dad. I want to know. I don't want there to be secrets anymore." She pleaded gently. He nodded reluctantly after a few moments.

"Darla, the woman who sired me, waited for me to dig myself out of my own grave after I had risen. That night, I..." He trailed off. She had no idea that this would be this difficult to him, if she had, then maybe she wouldn't have insisted that she know all of this. "I went back to my home, got Kathy to invite me in, convincing her that I was an angel returned to her from the dead. I killed her first, then my mother, followed by my father, as I gloated over how I would make something of myself after all. Darla came in after I killed him, and told me that my father would always have victory and power over me because his condemnation would haunt me as long as I walked the earth. Then, I went out and slaughtered the entire town."

She struggled to take all of this in... Her father, a killer? She couldn't imagine him harming a soul - well, unless it was in self defense - let alone that many, including his own family. The man she knew was kind and loving, not sadistic and murderous. "Why? Why would you kill all of those people?" She asked. There had to be some explanation as to why he was able to do that. "It wasn't him, Katherine, not really." Her mother spoke up from the doorway of her room. Buffy wasn't going to let Angel beat himself up over it for the thousandth time, and definitely not with one of their daughters watching.

"What do you mean?" She cocked her head. Buffy looked down at the floor. "When a person is turned into a vampire, a demon comes and takes control of their body, but it doesn't get the person's soul, that's gone. It's no longer you. Sure, the demon can walk, talk, and act like you, even carry all of your memories, but it isn't you." Buffy explained, and Katherine finally understood. It wasn't her father that had killed his family, it had been a demon wearing his skin.

"For 150 years, I was one of the most twisted and powerful vampires to ever walk this earth. I raped, I murdered, I maimed, I tortured, and I revelled in every second of it. I didn't stop at physical torment, I liked to drive my victims insane and relish in the entire mortifying process." He lowered his head in his hands. He thought he had done it? That was absurd. "Dad?" He looked up at her, and she could see the fear of rejection written clearly all over his face. "That wasn't you. I know you, and whoever that evil demon was, it wasn't you." She tried to reassure him, but she had the feeling that her mom and several others had been telling him this for years, what difference could she possibly make? He smiled at her anyways, probably to placate her. Wanting to steer him off this disturbing and clearly depressing topic, she asked another question, hopefully one that would lead the discussion away from maiming and torture. "You said for 150 years, what about the other 100 and change?"

"The year was 1898, Darla and I were in Romania. I ended up feeding on and murdering the beloved daughter of a tribe a gypsies, and I paid the ultimate price. They cooked up the perfect punishment for me." She ignored how he referred to himself and the demon as one in the same, because they weren't, but she'd let it slide, for now. "How?" What could they do that would punish an evil, sadistic creature of the night? "They cursed me." He said, still not answering her question fully. Despite his vague answer, she didn't like the sound of that at all. Curses typically carried a bad connotation, and this wouldn't be an exception. "With what?" He looked up at her, staring into her eyes so deeply, that it felt like he was looking into her very soul. _When a person is turned into a vampire, a demon comes and takes control of their body, but it doesn't get the person's soul, that's gone. It's no longer you._

She met his gaze, a look of understanding crossing her face and she began shaking her head unconsciously. "No." She said, shaking her head more vehemently now. "No, they couldn't, they... how could they do something like that? You hadn't done anything wrong." Her tone finally settled on insistent. They hadn't cursed him with what she thought, had they? "What do you think my punishment was?' He asked, but he already knew she'd figured it out, it was written all over her expressive face. She swallowed thickly, hoping she was wrong. "They gave you back your soul, didn't they?" When he nodded, she began seething with anger. What kind of a punishment was that? If anything, it punished the soul more than the demon. Sure, the demon was locked up somewhere, not in control of the body anymore, but it wasn't completely gone.

Noticing and sensing her growing rage, he moved on with the story. "I went off on my own after that. Came to America, stayed away from humans, fed off rats. It was a sorry excuse for an existence, but it saved lives. I ventured out into the land of the living a few times, but eventually the temptation would be too great and I would return to my self imposed solitude." He had punished himself, for years, for things he hadn't done. Unbelievable. She sensed a but or something in that phrase, prompting her to temporarily forget her currently festering hatred for gypsies and to focus back on the story he was telling. "Until?" She supplied, grateful to be moving away from the topic. Angel glanced to Buffy, who gave him a smile as she came over and sat down next to him on the foot of her bed.. "Until 1996 when a demon named Whistler found me, told me I had a destiny if i was willing to pursue it. He wanted to show me something."

He glanced slyly at her mother, and Katherine had a good idea just what, or who, that had been. "He showed you mom, didn't he?" She asked, smiling when they both nodded. She frowned for a second. How did showing her to him affect his destiny? I mean, clearly they were destined, if you believed in that sort of thing, but he was making it seem like it was a much greater one. "Why? If you don't mind my asking." She asked, not wanting to sound all snippy or anything. "Whistler took me to see her called." Her father said, before Buffy interrupted him. "And that set our paths on a one way ticket to kaleidoscope." She added. "Called?" Katherine's nose scrunched up in confusion. "What do you mean by called?" She asked. Buffy and Angel shared a look.

"Into every generation, there is a chosen one. One girl in all the world. She alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer." Buffy recited, having heard it more than enough times in her life. The idea that one girl was expected to protect the entire world, some 7 billion people, from the 'forces of darkness' was almost incomprehensible. How was one girl supposed to stand between the world that she used to know, where the monsters were all too human and didn't exactly always go bump in the night, and the one she was thrust into against her will, where the monsters were the things of folklore and legend, the things that you cowered under the covers in bed at night, staring at your eerily dark closet, waiting for something terrifying to jump out at you?

"So, you were the slayer?" She asked, all of the answers to both her spoken questions and inner assumptions beginning to weave themselves together. "Yeah, I was. I still am, but now, there is more than just one. It used to be a lone wolf kind of gig." Buffy said sheepishly, looking down at her hands ruefully. She still didn't know how Katherine was dealing with all of this. When it came to expressing her feelings, she was a lot like Angel. She didn't outwardly deal with things; she buried them. "Until what? How did being a slayer become a not so solo-y job?" Katherine asked, twirling a few curls that were hanging loosely subconsciously. Buffy looked up at her, and for the first time, Katherine saw her for what she really was. She saw the part of her that she'd kept hidden from all of them their entire lives; a leader, and a warrior.

"Well, there's really two 'untils' here." She said, sitting Indian style on top of the sheets. Angel laid his hand on her knee. "The way the slayer line used to work was that you had one slayer, and then you had hundreds, possibly even thousands of girls, who were considered potential slayers. When the current slayer died, the power was transferred to a random potential, and then when she died the same thing happened." Buffy explained. "So, what was the first 'until'?" Katherine asked. Her mother smiled then, but it was a mirthful one. "Until I died when I was 16." Katherine's jaw hung open. "Y-you... you died?" She asked, shocked. How was that possible? "I drowned, but your Uncle Xander revived me. Apparently, it doesn't matter how long you're dead. The power selects the next slayer as soon as the current slayer's heart stops beating or something like that." Katherine saw her father frown.

Obviously he hated being reminded of that event, and she couldn't blame him. He'd probably been there and witnessed it. "So, even though I lived and retained my powers, another was called." She said. Katherine thought for a minute. Wasn't that against the rules? The prophecy clearly stated the words 'one' and 'chosen', dictating that, that was how it'd always been. "So, then there were two?" She asked, and Buffy nodded. "What was the second 'until'?" She asked, mentally chastising herself when a look of guilt appeared on her mother's face. "It was a few years after that, I had died again when I was 20 and been resurrected..." She trailed off when she saw Katherine looking at her slack jawed again. "Long story." She dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"Anyways, I decided to change the rules completely. Your Aunt Willow was - is - a very powerful witch, and together, we were able to activate all the potentials. From that day on, every girl who could or might be slayer, would be a slayer. Who could stand up, would stand up. Instead of there being only two, me and your aunt Faith, there were suddenly hundreds, if not thousands." She vaguely remembered Faith, whom she'd met as a little girl only a handful of times. She remembered her and her husband, Spike, or William as her dad liked to call him whenever he'd piss him off, and their three kids - two boys and a girl. The eldest she remembered the most clearly. His name had been Damon, and they'd aggravated each other to no end.

They'd pretended to hate each other, but really, she'd had a major crush on him. His dark, almost jet black hair, had contrasted sharply with his vibrant blue eyes, and, even as a three year old, he'd made a lasting impression on her. She used to pester her parents when she was little, asking when she'd see Damon again. As she got older though, and the years stretched on, their visits had been few and far between, and only the mention of Faith had brought him back to the forefront of her mind after years of not thinking about him at all. His younger brother was a golden blonde haired, blue eyed boy named Alaric, who'd obviously had a thing for Elena, even though she'd wanted nothing to do with him.

She was more focused on their little sister, Kylie, who had Faith's deep brown eyes and hair only a few shades lighter than Damon's. Liam had been absolutely infatuated with her from the start, and she'd been equally interested in him. They'd spend all of their time together, coloring and playing, much to Elena's dismay, who had felt like Liam was trying to steal her friend from her. Bonnie had simply tried to keep up with them, usually being the odd one out. "Am I a slayer too?" She asked, and Buffy paused for a second. "Yeah, you are."

* * *

_Flashback - 3 hours earlier_

_Giles, Buffy, and Angel were all sitting in the living room, trying to absorb what had happened. A few hours ago, Katherine, Elena, and Liam had been dead, but now... not so much. On the car ride home, they'd explained everything to Elena and Liam, who'd surprisingly taken everything in stride, from Angel having been a vampire, Buffy being a slayer, to Giles being a watcher. They'd been very understanding, and had tried to listen attentively, even though they'd claimed that it had been difficult because of their head pounding, their teeth aching, and both having dull aches in their throats. When they'd gotten home, they'd sent both to bed and had laid Katherine in her own, knowing that it'd still be a few hours before she woke up._

_Buffy's phone rang, and, seeing that it was Willow, she answered it. "Will?" She asked. "Hey, Buff." Willow greeted, but Buffy could tell by her tone that something was up. Before Buffy could ask what was wrong, Willow spoke. "You know how I told you there were newly called slayers somewhere? I was right...there are six." She said, her tone still grave. Buffy stood up and began pacing while Angel and Giles watched quietly from their places on the couch. "Will, what's wrong?" She questioned nervously. She heard Willow take a few more deep breaths. "They're our daughters, Buffy, all of us. Ariel, Daphne, Celeste, Katherine, Elena, and Kylie. I had to tell Ariel that she was both a slayer and a witch tonight. So did Fred and Wesley with Daphne, and they told Peter by default. Connor and Dawn had to break the news to Celeste. So did Spike and Faith with Kylie. Xander told Alex everything because he knows that we have to be a team again, and he can't leave him by himself."_

_Buffy nearly dropped the cell phone. All six? Ariel was Oz and Willow's daughter and only child, Daphne was Wesley and Fred's youngest, Celeste was, like Ariel, Connor and Dawn's only child, and then Kylie was Spike and Faith's youngest. She walked over and sat down between Angel and Giles. "All of them?" She asked, astonished. "Yeah." She could hear Willow's voice crack. When they'd cast the spell that'd turned all of the potentials into slayers nearly twenty years ago, they'd never have imagined that it would backfire like it had. "Will, I..." Willow interrupted her. "It's not your fault, Buffy. This is something that none of us could've stopped, not even me."_

"_But there is one more, extremely hinky, thing that I found." She said before continuing. "The next slayer, the true slayer, the leader of the generation after you're gone... She's the strongest out of all of them, and she's one of our daughters." She thought about how she'd gotten a power sensory overload before they all had left the house, and now she knew why. It'd been the strongest when Katherine had kissed her cheek. It also explained how she was able to hold her breath longer than either Liam or Elena. "It's Katherine." She said with certainty. "How do you-" Buffy interrupted her. "Listen, Will... something happened tonight. Katherine, Elena, and Liam... they all drowned." She said, and she could feel Willow's sympathy._

"_They're not dead now, but they did die. That's beside the point, though. Liam was driving when a deer jumped out in front of them while they were heading to their high school football game. They were on a bridge and when he swerved, they drove off it and into a river. We were on the phone with Katherine at the time and we knew where they were. We got there a few minutes later and immediately jumped in to go save them. Liam and Elena had already lost consciousness when we got down to the truck, but Katherine was still awake. I went to help her, but she wouldn't let either Angel or I save her until we'd saved Elena and Liam."_

"_By the time we'd pulled her out after saving them, she'd died. They all had. The paramedics got there and tried to resuscitate them, but they couldn't. They took them all to the morgue and Angel thralled them into letting us say goodbye to the bodies, but the weirdest thing happened, th-" Willow was the one to interrupt her this time. "They woke up, didn't they?" Buffy nodded before putting the phone on speaker. "And they were complaining about the noise and their throat and teeth, weren't they?" Willow asked knowingly. Buffy, Giles and Angel looked at each other for a few moments. "Yeah, how did yo-"_

"_The same thing happened to all of Spike and Faith's kids, two of them happened tonight." Angel grabbed the phone, standing up and beginning to pace like Buffy had mere moments before. "Willow, do you know where Spike is?" He asked. "Yeah, he's actually on the other line, I'll patch you through." She said, there were slight shuffling noises for about a minute as Willow connected him to Spike. "Angel." They all heard the blonde's unmistakable cockney accent come over the line. "Spike." Angel said in greeting. Over the past couple of years after LA, Angel and Spike had actually been able to form somewhat of a friendship. "Listen, Angel, I heard about what happened-" Angel interrupted him. "Willow said something about the same thing happening to Damon, Alaric, and Kylie?"_

"_Damon was the first one to do the ole switcheroo between mortal and immortal, about 3 years ago. He was out in the Quarter one night and tried to play the hero in a robbery. He was shot and killed, or so we thought. He came to not long after, and needless to say, Faith and I were pretty confused. We called Wes and Fred and had them try to find anything that related to half vampire and half human offspring. As one day turned to two, and two days to three, they hadn't found anything and Damon was getting weaker. We'd told him everything and he'd accepted it, but it looked like he was slowly dying. His face was all gray-like, he could barely keep his eyes open or move at all, and he complained about noise and everything that's heightened when you're turned into a creature of the night."_

"_So, what did you do?" Angel asked, leaning against the wall. "The only thing that Faith and I could think of that made sense. We fed him human blood." Angel cast a quick glance to Buffy. "And did it work?" Spike laughed. "Oh, it worked alright, mate. Turns out, and Wes and Fred figured this out later, that even though all of our little whipper snappers were born while you and I were still vamps, their vamp genes were dormant until they died as a human. So..." Spike trailed off. "When they died as a human they already had vamp blood in their system." Angel said, everything becoming clearer. "Now you're gettin' it. Their blood triggered the transition, but it's not like other vamps where they just wake up a vampire... They have to drink human blood within 72 hours or else they'll die... the way they were meant to."_

* * *

_Bremen, Georgia - 9:00 am_

She looked between the two of them panickedly. "I have to drink human blood or die? Those are my only options?" Buffy and Angel shared a look. "Look, Katherine, that's only from what Spike told us, there may be other ways out of it, but..." Giles came in then, followed closely by Elena and Liam. "There are no other ways out of it Angel. After Spike called I started doing research and there's nothing we can do to prevent this." He turned to Katherine who was still sitting upright in her bed. "There is no way out of it. We all know the solution, Katherine feeds or she will die, there is no third option." He said a bit harshly.

Elena and Liam met her eyes guiltily, and in a second she knew why they were looking at her like that. Her eyes went to Giles and then back to them a few times. "What did you do?" She asked, throwing her legs over the side of the bed and stumbling over to Giles. She looked at her brother and sister again, seeing that they seemed fine, not slowly dying like she was. As Giles' arm came out to support her, she grabbed onto his wrist and felt a bandage there. Her eyes darted up to his in shock and betrayal. "You fed them?" She asked horrified. "You completed their transition?" She pushed away from him roughly, backing up to sit on the bed.

She let a single tear roll down her cheek as reality came crashing down on her. "I was ready to die." She said quietly. "I was supposed to die. I don't wanna be - I can't be - a vampire." She said, her voice hitching. "Could you guys leave me alone for a little bit?" She asked. The others in the room shared a look before they all began to file out. Buffy placed a kiss on Katherine's head as she passed her to exit the room. Angel placed his hand on her face, stroking her cheek.

"Hey, I know this wasn't your choice. Believe me when I say that your mother and I never wanted this for any of you. I am going to give you a choice that you deserve though - you can decide whether or not to complete your transition. Either way, your mother and I will still love you. You know that. If this isn't what you want, then you don't have to do it." He said softly before dropping a kiss on the crown of her head and walking towards the door, shutting it, giving her some privacy.

After a few moments of staring at her closed door, she crawled back under the covers of her bed and laid down, staring at the ceiling. What was she going to do? She didn't want to be a vampire, or a slayer, or any sort of supernatural being. She'd always assumed that she'd graduate from high school, then college, meet some nice guy and fall in love, settle down, start a family, and grow old. It wasn't anything extraordinary, but then how many people grew up to do something truly good and wonderful in the world? Not many. She should've died last night on the bridge. She'd been ready. She'd sacrificed her life for her siblings, but now they were sentenced to live for eternity, or at least she could assume that much. Did she want to live forever? She had no idea. All she knew was that she could debate the reasons to complete and not to complete her transition until she literally keeled over in a few days, or she could focus on the decision itself.

To feed or not to feed - that was the question.


	2. The Choice

Title: Heart of Darkness

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. If I had, both series would've been at least headed in this direction.

Genre: Supernatural/Drama

Rating: M, for later chapters

Pairings: Bangel, Spaith, Fresley, Connor/Dawn, Xander/Cordelia (kinda), OC/OC (5 of them)

A/N: If you guys couldn't tell, Katherine is the main character of my series. Yes, she's alot like Elena in TVD, but I'm going make an effort to make her even stronger and less whiny (even though in my opinion Elena isn't that bad). Later, she's going to be a lot more like Katherine, but that's a long way off yet. There's also a little bit of a teaser for the main couple of the series, which I'm absolutely in love with. This has aspects of both 2x20 and 4x01 of TVD, but I've taken some creative license with it. Anyways, I hope you guys like chapter 2! :)

* * *

_'Cause I can't stop time_

_You keep blurring in my mind_

_And space is undefined_

_These tracks left behind_

_We can't stay the same_

_Can't stop this train_

_I can't find the breaks_

_On this bullet train_

_Bullet Train / Stephen Swartz ft. Joni Fatora_

* * *

After countless hours of tossing and turning with little to no sleep, Katherine finally dragged herself out of bed wearily and began heading downstairs. She still hadn't come to a decision on what she was going to do yet. She doubted that she'd know until the last possible second if she would complete the transition or not.

She trudged down the stairs and turned into the kitchen. Her throat and teeth were still achy, but that wasn't what was really bothering her right now - she was hungry. She was just going to make herself a sandwich, eat it, maybe grab a glass of warm milk, and then head back to bed and try to catch a couple of z's. As she entered the room, she saw everyone standing or sitting somewhere in it, conversing quietly. They were probably talking about her.

All of the sudden, a small body slammed into her's, arms wrapping themselves around her almost painfully. She looked down to see the top of Bonnie's golden blonde head as it pressed just under her chin. "Oh my gosh, Mom and Dad told me what happened... Are you okay? Do you need anything? How do you feel? Are you-" Angel interrupted her flurry of questions. "Bonnie... give her some space." Bonnie's green eyes met her and she immediately backed up, giving her some room, and Katherine was glad for it. "Oh, sorry." Just being in a room with several live beings that had blood pumping through their veins made staying there almost unbearable.

"Why don't you go check on the horses, okay?" Buffy asked, laying a hand on her mini me's shoulder. The O'Connor's lived on several acres of land, enough for a few pastures and a horse for each of them. One of Katherine's favorite things to do on the weekends was go take her two year old championship bloodline thoroughbred filly, Beholder's Benediction, Ben for short, out for a gallop followed by a dip for both of them in the small lake on the property. Ben's pedigree was impeccable, a thing of dreams for trainers and owners... and somehow she'd ended up with her, her father telling her that someone had owed him and Ben had been the prize.

Liam and Elena were seated at the bar, each eating a sandwich and drinking from coffee mugs. Judging from the coppery scent coming from the cups, she knew what they were drinking. She'd always assumed that vampires were on a straight plasma only diet, but, then again, they were only half vampire, so she guessed they could eat/drink both without any problem. Not saying a word to anyone, she walked over to the fridge and opened it, pulling out some turkey, avocados, lettuce, and tomatoes. She set the separate containers on the counter while she went to the pantry to retrieve the bread. As she was making her sandwich, she ignored the awkward silence that had engulfed the room as soon as she'd walked into it.

Sandwich made, she warmed herself up a glass of milk before sitting down next to Elena at the bar. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Angel jerk his head in the direction of the living room. Elena and Liam nodded, now done with their blood and sandwich combo, and cleaned up before following Buffy and Giles to the family room, leaving Katherine and Angel alone. He came over to the island and leaned on it, watching her as she took a bite of her self made meal. She chewed for a few seconds, a frown growing on her features as she continued to try and swallow it down. She shifted her weight uncomfortably, glancing at Angel. He nodded at the sandwich knowingly. "It's disgusting."

She shook her head, trying to deny it, her eyebrows drawing down as she fought to continue chewing it. "No, it's... ummm." She winced as the cold, mushy, bland tasting food still wouldn't go down. She felt like gagging. He looked at her knowingly. "It's disgusting." He repeated. She finally nodded. "Yeah, I'm gonna puke." She mumbled with the food still in her mouth. She ran over to the sink and spit out the food into the drain before washing it down with water from the faucet. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she coughed a few times to make sure that she'd expelled all of the food from her mouth. She braced her hands on the counter top on either side of the sink, shaking her head.

What she wouldn't give to have a nice, hot coffee mug full of blood. It was the only thing that sounded appealing at the moment, which was more than a little bit scary. She craved the feeling of the thick, warm liquid flowing down her throat and warming her insides, giving her life. She closed her eyes, both in defeat and embarrassment. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't stop thinking about blood." She admitted outloud. Angel watched her back for a few moments before he picked up her plate and dumped the remains of the sandwich into the garbage can. "I should've saved you first. You shouldn't be going through this right now." He said, walking back to retrieve her milk glass from the table as well. He knew she wouldn't be able to stomach it, much like with the sandwich. He lifted the glass to his lips, not willing to let it go to waste.

Katherine turned around, finally meeting his eyes. "No, you did exactly what I wanted. If you had saved me first, then they'd definitely be dead. I made the choice, Dad. I knew what I was doing." She walked up to him and laid a hand on his arm. "Please don't beat yourself up over it." She let her hand slip away. "I mean, if you would've saved me first, then I'd still be human with two half vampire siblings. A slayer, but still human. What do you think I'd be going through then?" She'd be blaming herself for their deaths, that's what she'd be going through. He didn't answer her, simply taking another sip of milk. "Dad, you did the right thing. You did what you always do. You respected my choice." That was one thing he'd always let them - especially her for some reason - have... a choice. He set the now empty glass down on the counter.

"What am I supposed to do now? I either help you make the transition and become a vampire or I let you die because you don't want to be one. I don't want to force you into something that you don't want, but I don't want to lose you either." He said softly, stepping towards her and lifting a hand to her cheek. Her own hand came up to cover his. "That's still three days away, Dad. I have no idea what I'm gonna choose. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it." She said with a shrug, pausing when she'd realized what she'd said. She took her hand away from his on her cheek. "Oh my god, did I just say 'cross that bridge'?" She asked incredulously, laughing. She brought her hand up to her mouth to help reign in the sounds as she laughed like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

"You're laughing. I'm pretty sure that you don't really find that funny." She nodded at him as she continued to giggle. "I can't stop." She said, sending herself into another fit of laughter. He looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back up at her. "Your emotions are a bit," she kept laughing, making him correct himself. "Okay, maybe a lot heightened." He amended. Slowly but surely, her laughs turned to sobs. He pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair with his hand as she cried into his chest. "Shhh, it's okay. It's alright." He whispered to her. She shook her head while it was still against his chest. "I'm sorry, I..." She choked out, trailing off.

"Listen to me." He pulled her face away from his chest and held it in his hands. "Listen to me. No matter what happens, no matter what you choose, I'm here for you. I'll help you the best I can." She nodded in agreement. "Okay." She said quietly. She looked at the window, squinting as the afternoon sunlight hit her face. She brought a hand up to block it out. "Why don't you go back upstairs where it's dark." He suggested. She nodded and turned around, heading out of the kitchen and passing the living room to head up the stairs again. He watched her go before walking out into the living room himself, a plan forming in his head.

* * *

The next morning, she was woken up by the bright morning sunlight flooding her room as someone drew the curtains back away from the windows. Squinting, she sat upright in her bed, watching as her father turned towards her, a confused look on her face. "Pack an overnight bag." It took her a moment to process what he'd said. "What?" She asked. He placed her hiking backpack on her bed and zipped it open for her. "We're going on a little trip." He said cryptically, leaving before she could respond. She sat in her bed for a few moments longer before standing shakily to her feet and walking over to her dresser. She looked at herself in the mirror of her vanity, frowning at how pale and sallow her skin appeared. It looked like someone had stretched it across her skull, the facial bones more pronounced in certain areas, like her cheekbones and eye sockets.

There were dark circles under her eyes and her usually bouncy, shiny, loose chocolate curls hung limp, dull, and lifeless over her shoulders and down to her lower back. The once dry ache in her throat had increased to the point where it felt like someone had lit a match in the back of it. The pain in her gums was worse too, no doubt a result of her failure to feed and complete the transition yet. One thing that was new though was there was this mind numbing pain in her skull. It made her want to just curl up in her bed and never leave. Having had enough of her ghastly appearance, she turned her gaze away from the mirror and to the task of finding clothes for whatever overnight trip her dad was taking her on.

After much deliberation, she eventually settled on two pairs of jeans, two t-shirts, her well worn University of Georgia sweatshirt, and her hiking boots. She packed the extra pair of jeans and t-shirt in her hiking backpack, going over to her closet and pulling out her sleeping bag, fastening it to the front of her backpack. She dressed rather quickly for her condition before slipping one of the straps over her shoulder and heading for the door, grabbing her bottle of water as an afterthought. She had no idea if she could drink water or not now, but it definitely couldn't hurt. She closed her door and walked down the stairs carefully, not trusting herself to be strong enough to walk down the stairs without falling, even though she gripped the railing as tightly as possible.

She walked over to the living room and immediately sat down on the couch, worried that she might keel over if she stayed standing for too long. A few moments later, Liam and Elena both came into the room, looking better than she'd ever seen them. She felt this insane rush of jealousy wash through her as she looked at them. They looked perfect, full of life, ironic considering that they were technically half dead. She watched as they took in her appearance, an adverse reaction stirring in the two of them, but neither commented on it. "Any idea where Dad's taking us?" She asked, mentally wincing when her voice came out hoarse and strained. They both shrugged. "No idea." Elena said, her straight chocolate hair catching the light of the sun as it streamed through the living room windows and glistened.

Just then, Angel came down the stairs, dressed similarly to the three of them, with Buffy in tow. "Where are we going?" Liam asked, brushing some of his dirty blonde hair out of his hazel eyes. They were a strange color, not an emerald green like their mom's, yet not chocolate brown like Elena, Angel, and herself. "You'll see." Angel said cryptically. Since when had her dad been cryptic guy? All of the sudden in the past two days he'd gone from being transparent to ambiguous. For some reason, Katherine's eyes were drawn to her mother, who had a suitcase beside her and was wearing some not so outdoor friendly clothes. "Where are you going?" Katherine rasped, hating the way her voice sounded. "Willow needs Giles and I in Cleveland for a few things." She said, also cryptically. What was with everybody? They'd just revealed their huge family secret and they were choosing now to get with the cryptic?

"Oh." She said quietly. "What about Bonnie?" She asked. "She's staying at a friend's house again." Her mother was leaving, to go on what looked to be more than a one night trip. If she didn't make the transition, if she chose to die, then this might be the last time she ever saw her mother, and her little sister, for that matter. She met her green eyes and could clearly see unshed tears shining in them as they stared right back into hers. "Could you give us a moment?" Buffy asked, ordering her voice not to shake as she looked at she and Angel's oldest. Elena, Liam and Angel nodded, walking over to the front door and exiting the house, heading to the car. Katherine struggled to stand, tears welling in her own eyes now. "Mommy..." She said quietly, her voice trembling. Buffy walked forward and enveloped her in what Katherine liked to call her 'mom hug'.

It was different from Angel's 'dad hug'. His hug was warm and engulfing. She felt safe and cherished in his arms. Her mom's were always tighter, fiercer in a way. She wasn't dogging on her dad's hugs, they were a completely different kind of great than her mom's. They both began crying, both knowing that this could be the last time they truly saw each other. "I love you, sweetie. It's your choice." She whispered in her ear. Katherine nodded in thanks, pulling back and kissing her on the cheek. Buffy's hand came up to run down the length of her hair lovingly. "I love you too, Mom." She choked out, letting her tears fall freely. Slowly, she pulled away from her and walked out the door, not looking back.

* * *

After driving for 2 1/2 hours, she felt the car come to a stop on some off road spot. She internally groaned. It was still light outside. She'd spent the entire trip cowered in the back of the SUV, a blanket over her head. She felt the car jostle and heard doors begin opening and slamming as they began to unload things from the tailgate. Her dad had told them on the way that they were going camping up in the Blue Ridge mountains, away from everyone in their town who would spot them and immediately know that something was up.

She stayed in the car for almost an hour more, trying to avoid going into what she used to think was relaxing winter sunlight for as long as possible. Her dad and brother and sister had spent that time setting up camp, putting up the tent and arranging everything in the right place. Angel used to take them camping when they were younger. It had been an escape from their normal day to day life.

Her car door finally opened, her father's head poking in. "Come on, I want to show you something." She began to protest, but he stopped her. "It's not far, I promise." She finally relented, nodding as he helped her get out of the car.

* * *

"Where are we?" She asked, taking in the wooded, terrain ridden area that he was leading her through. She'd gotten used to the sun by now. It had taken more than a few minutes, but she'd acclimated fairly well to it. It wasn't that it was hot or scalding, it was just so bright. He was a few steps in front of her. "It's uh, a surprise." He said, again leaning towards the cryptic. "It's just a little bit longer." He reassured, looking back at her briefly to see how she was faring. She could still walk and keep her balance, she just had the tendency to get dizzy at certain points or trip occasionally.

"I'm not a vampire yet, you know." She teased, and he smiled, loving to hear that signature fire back in her voice. It was one of the things that she'd gotten from Buffy. "My legs still get tired." She said as they made a slight descent as they went down a small hill. She grabbed onto trees every now and then to keep her balance. He glanced back at her again. "You ready to talk about how you're feeling about all of this?" She laughed slightly. "Uhhh..." She mumbled as she tried to organize her jumbled thoughts. "Two days ago, I was looking forward to a high school football game, and now... I could end up a vampire. I mean... I really still don't know how I'm feeling." She came to a stop by Angel as he looked up at something in front of them.

She gasped as she took in the enormity of the waterfall in front of them. It was probably 100 feet tall, cascading down into a miniature lake which narrowed into a winding river that cut through the terrain and weaved between the various hills in the mountain range. The mist coming from the waterfall made the air around them crisp, and for the first time she didn't feel like she had to struggle to take a breath. It cooled the air around them, and even though it was the beginning of December, it felt refreshing. "Oh my god, this is beautiful." She commented quietly, studiously not looking at her dad, even when he turned towards her. "I think you do know how you feel."

She turned to look at him finally. He shrugged after their eyes met. "I want you to know that it's okay to tell me." She shook her head minutely as she debated on what to say. "I can't." She finally said, looking down at the forest floor. "Dad, I just... I can't talk about it." She said, shrugging slightly. He nodded a few times, accepting her unwillingness to open up. That was something she got from him. "Well, if you don't want to, that's your choice. Today and tomorrow are about you." She shifted her weight and looked at him questioningly. "Then why did Lee and El come along?" She asked, using their nicknames.

"I wanted to spend time with you, that was my main reason for coming here. But, this is also an opportunity for me to spend some one on one time with each of them and help them figure some things out." Elena and Liam apparently had already started to head towards wherever Angel was taking her, probably using some of their new vampiric and slayer abilities. Elena was already a lot stronger than Liam, her combined slayer and vampire traits amping up her preternatural strength well above his. Over the course of the day before, apparently Angel and Giles had tested them on their strengths and weaknesses while she'd been shut away in her dark bedroom, trying to get some rest.

They'd found out that the usual vampire weaknesses affected them as well. Sunlight, holy water, crosses, stakes... could all kill them. Well, at least they assumed stakes... that they hadn't dared to try, for good reason. While the weaknesses were the same, the strengths were conversely increased. They both were stronger than the typical vamp, had heightened senses, elevated healing capabilities, and so on and so forth. They also had confirmed that they'd retained their souls, which was a good thing. Her dad tried to change the subject. "It's a long way to the top, you know. We aren't even halfway there yet." He said, beginning to walk away. She shook her head at his his back, smiling slightly, before following him.

* * *

"I guess Liam and Elena will kind of have a leg up on me, making the transitions first and all." She turned to Angel quickly. "Not that I've decided that I'm going to complete the transition yet, but if I do." She turned back to looking at the path in front of them, realizing something. "I'll never be able to watch Bambi again." She said thoughtfully, knowing that she'd have to either hunt or feed off of animal blood, she knew she wouldn't be comfortable feeding from a human and her parents wouldn't condone it. "I definitely wouldn't recommend doing that." Angel said playfully, smiling at her. She laughed softly. "And I'll have to have a daylight ring, or bracelet, or whatever, made, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's a piece of cake. I have the spell at home and either Giles or me can perform it." They'd apparently done some research and found a protection spell that could be cast on a wearable personal item that would render the owner impervious to sunlight. Elena and Liam had been given old lapis lazuli rings that her father had managed to track down in a surprisingly short amount of time. One of the ingredients needed for the spell to work was the precious blue stone. When wearing it, the owner was free to walk in the sunlight whenever he or she pleased.

"What's the best part about being a vampire?" She asked curiously. "I mean, an ensouled vampire." She amended. "You were the only one, weren't you?" She asked. He shook his head. "No, there was one other." She stopped, looking at him curiously. "Who?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. "Your Uncle Spike." Her jaw dropped. Spike? Damon, Alaric, and Kylie's dad? When she really thought about it, it actually kind of made sense. The way they ragged on each other made it seem like they'd known each other a long time. Now she knew why. "You knew each other before you became human again, didn't you?" She asked. She knew that Spike was human now. Like with her dad, she'd seen him, age, felt his warmth.

He laughed good naturedly. "Oh yeah. I've known him since he was turned back in 1880." Her eyebrows rose. "Wow, that's a long time. Why have you know him for nearly 150 years?" She asked curiously. He was quiet for a few moments as they continued their ascent up a large hill. "Because, I sired the vampire that sired him." He said guiltily. She stopped again, grabbing his arm and making her look at him. "What's up with you and that face lately?" She asked bluntly. He looked at her like he didn't know what she was talking about. "You know, you've been brooding a lot lately. I don't think I've ever seen you brood this much." She said as an afterthought.

Instead of answering the question, he began explaining in short the circumstances of Spike's turning. "I sired this young girl about twenty years earlier. Her name was Drusilla. She was innocent, sweet, and chaste, and my demon wanted to corrupt that. He, I, exacted on her as much mental and physical torture that I could devise. By the time I finally turned her, she had gone insane." He paused, looking to see her reaction. She merely nodded in encouragement. "She was the one that turned Spike. She convinced herself that she needed a companion, a 'white knight' or so she put it. So, she found him in London and turned him. They were together until 1998 when she left him for a fungus demon." He said the last part with a smile and partial laugh.

She smiled with him. "So, if he was an ensouled vamp, and Faith was, is, a slayer like mom, are their kids like us?" She asked as they resumed their ascent once again. "I didn't know until two days ago that Damon did die 3 years ago and made the transition. That's how we knew how to complete it. They were lucky that they tried feeding him human blood." She thought for a moment. So, Damon, Elena, and Liam were all half vampire. She looked back at him, a crease in her brow. "What about Kylie and Alaric?" He nodded. "They recently completed the transition. They died the night that you all did." He said.

"How?" She turned her head to look at him. "Well, Kylie became a slayer while she was out on the streets of New Orleans a few nights ago. A vamp attacked her that same night and managed to drain her dry, but she came back like you all did, in transition. She just so happened to find some fresh blood without killing anyone, completing her transition. After, she was so hungry that she drained Alaric that same night when he was out looking for her, and then he had to complete the transition too." He left off about the part where Damon had forced him to. She nodded. There were five that they knew of: Damon, Ric, Kylie, Elena, and Liam. If she did make the transition, she wouldn't be alone. That was something.

Realizing that they'd wandered way off track, she asked her previous question again. "What's the best part about being a vampire, like you and Uncle Spike?" He sighed, trying to think about what to say. "Feeling like you can do anything, be anyone. Beautiful things, like the waterfall back there, are more beautiful, everything's heightened... you just live more intensely, love more powerfully." She nodded. "And the worst?" She asked, glancing at him. "Ah, you know the worst." He said cryptically. "Aside from the blood." She said, he was a few steps ahead of her now. He turned around, making her stop. "Like I said, everything's heightened. Anger becomes rage. When you're sad, you're in despair. Grief, loss... can cripple you. That's why it's easier to be soulless. It was why it's the perfect punishment for a vampire. Everything can become too overwhelming."

She couldn't speak, unsure of how to respond to that. "You know, for a long while for me, the good just couldn't outweigh the bad." She shifted her weight. "How long before you learned to handle both?" She asked, raising her eyes to his. "I still struggle with it everyday, even though I'm human again. The only thing that really changed for me was that my body started really functioning again. I still have all of my strengths from when I was a vampire, just minus the blood drinking." He looked at her knowingly. "What else?" She paused before evasively changing the subject. "Let's just keep going. We're almost to the top." She walked past him and managed to get a few steps headstart before he began to follow.

* * *

"We made it." Katherine grunted, taking her father's hand as he pulled her the rest of the way up the small peak. "That?" He laughed, putting his hands into his leather jacket's pockets. "That was nothing. I've climbed Mount Everest." She laughed with him good naturedly. "Nobody likes a bragger, Dad. Besides, you didn't have to breath, that's bound to make it super easier." She said playfully, turning around to look at the sunset in the horizon as the sun began to sink below the other peaks in the area. "Oh wow." She whispered taking in the beauty of it. "Yeah." He sighed, absorbing it with her. They stood in silence for countless minutes, simply taking in the view, before he turned and studied her. "Hey, you can say it."

"Say what?" She said simply, acting like she had no idea what he was talking about. But she did. She just was afraid of what he was going to say when she told him that she'd made her decision, and terrified of his reaction when he found out what she'd decided on. "The thing you've been wanting to say, but afraid of how it'll make me feel." He said, knowing what she was doing. She sighed heavily, still not meeting his eyes. "There's nothing I can say, dad. It won't change anything." He looked away for a moment. "You're right - it won't, but it might make you feel better." She still didn't answer him. "Look, I know you've thought about this a lot over the past two days. Just giving in and making the transition just so you can survive. I mean, I almost didn't offer you a choice, but I've made that mistake so many times in the past with your mother, and she used to resent me for it."

"She did?" She asked, finally turning toward him. She was thankful that he had given her a choice in this. It would've been so much easier for him to just make that decision to give her human blood before she knew what was going on, but he hadn't. He'd respected her right to making this decision. He nodded. "If it were my choice, I'd want you to live a long healthy human life, but you can't. Now, it's either death or a life of servitude to the world. That's a huge decision. If you do make the transition, you'll have to lead every slayer on earth. You are the slayer, not just a slayer. Sooner or later you'd feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, and trust me when I say that it's an extremely heavy burden." He cleared his throat. "But, between your two choices, of course I'd want you to complete the transition, but it'd be selfish of me to ask you."

She nodded. "Definitely didn't stop Grandpa from making that choice for Lee and El." She said bitterly. A part of her hated her grandfather for that. "He did it because he loves all of you. He didn't want you lose any of you." He said in Giles' defense. "Maybe." She shrugged. "But I don't know, maybe that means he doesn't know what real love is. But, I don't know if I do either. I'm only 15 years old, how am I supposed to know any of this yet?" Her voice cracked. "I know that I love you, Dad. I love Mom, and I love Grandpa, even if I'm angry with him right now. I love Lee, Bon, and El too, but my future? My life? Those were things I was supposed to deal with as they came along." She stopped for a few seconds, trying to reign in her sudden rush of helplessness.

"I was supposed to grow up." She said tearfully, looking into his eyes and trying to shrug nonchalantly. "Decide if I wanna have kids and start a family. Grow old... I was supposed to have a lifetime of those choices... and now? That's all gone." She choked out. She was crying in earnest now, tears streaming down her face. She saw Angel looking at her and a sudden look of understanding crossed his face. He leaned down a little so he could look into her eyes. "Say it. Please." He whispered, bringing his hand up to cup her cheek for a fleeting moment before allowing it to slip away. "I don't wanna be a vampire, Dad." She shook her head vigorously. "I just... I can't. I don't want to risk ever hurting anybody."

Angel felt his heart sink. He pulled her to his chest and soothed her as she sobbed. She'd made her choice, now they'd all have to live with it.

* * *

A short time before the sun set the next day, Katherine, Angel, Liam, and Elena had all spent the day back at their campsite. Katherine was resting on her sleeping bag, watching as Angel tried to teach Liam and Elena how to control themselves around humans. It wasn't really a demonstration, it was more like a lecture... which had been going on for hours on end now. "So we're supposed to just ignore how good regular people smell when we pass them on the street or something?" Liam asked and Angel nodded. "Yep." Katherine watched as Elena scowled. "Even if they smell really, really good?" She whined, and Katherine could tell that she was searching for a loop hole. Granted, she'd never tasted animal blood before, but it seemed like they had, and it wasn't the tastiest thing they'd ever eaten.

"Even then." Angel told them. They both groaned. "I know pig's blood isn't the greatest tasting thing, but I'll look into getting you guys some otter's blood. It'll make it taste better." They nodded in defeat. Katherine groaned internally. Blood - any blood - sounded so good at the moment. Elena and Liam walked over to the cooler in the suv and dug out two blood bags, quickly drinking down the thick crimson liquid inside. "You guys better enjoy it now, because when we get home you're getting weaned off the human blood." It was Liam's turn to whine. "Even from blood bags?!" He asked incredulously. Angel nodded, smiling slightly. "Even from blood bags."

She closed her eyes, ignoring her little brother and sister's moaning and groaning over what blood they could and couldn't eat. It was early evening now, probably two or so hours before the sun would sink below the peaks of the mountains. Earlier the night before, she'd called her mom and told her what her decision had been. Her mom had told her that she loved her, that she was blessed to have had her as a daughter before saying their final goodbyes. She wasn't ready to leave them behind, but she couldn't be a vampire. She didn't want to risk hurting anyone - ever.

Even though she had been chosen as the next true slayer, Angel had reassured her that another would be selected after her final death, so she didn't feel guilty or pressured to change her mind. Her mom had probably filled in her entire extended family, who had all convened in Cleveland, where the Hellmouth was in the Western Hemisphere. They knew that Elena and Liam were vampires... wasn't there another word for half vampires? There had to be, but that was beside the point. And they knew that she was choosing not to complete the transition. She didn't know how she felt about them knowing. Some of them she knew, like Spike, Faith, Xander, Willow, and Giles, but there were a whole list of names that her parents had mentioned that she'd never heard before, like Fred, Wesley, Lorne, Andrew, Connor, Dawn.

She knew Dawn was her mother's sister, but she'd never actually met her. Truthfully, her parents didn't really have many friends, which had struck her as odd until a few days ago.

She hadn't told Liam and Elena that she'd come to a decision. It was about time she got that out of the way. "Guys?" She winced at how her voice sounded. It came out as little more than a croak. All three of them turned to her. "Come here." She said, pushing herself upright so that she was sitting on the sleeping bag opposed to laying on it. She met Angel's eyes and a silent understanding passed between them. They'd always been able to tell what the other was trying to say just from a glance, something that she'd never been able to do with anyone else. He knew what she was about to do. "What, Kat?" Elena asked as she and Liam came to stand in front of her.

"I'm..." She trailed off, not being able to say the words as they looked down at her expectantly. She knew they expected her to complete the transition. She was getting weaker and weaker. Her skin was now a translucent white, there were dark, dark circles that spread down from her eye sockets to the tops of her cheek bones. Her voice was like sandpaper. Her throat felt like someone had doused it with lighter fluid and taken a flamethrower to it. She had a fever too. The pain in her head had spread to her entire body, making it extremely painful to even move. Simply sitting up alone had almost caused her to black out due to the pain. She guesstimated that she had one to two hours tops before she would be dead; it was now or never.

"I'm not gonna complete my transition." She said, not meeting their eyes. A beat of silence passed before they both erupted in anger. "What do you mean 'you're not gonna complete the transition'?" Liam nearly shouted. She physically winced at his tone. Elena laughed bitterly. "Kat, you're kidding right?" Katherine's gaze zeroed in on the sleeve of her Georgia sweatshirt as she picked at a stray string coming from it, shaking her head no. They both scoffed at her disbelievingly. "Why?" Liam asked, and Katherine shook her head. "I just, I can't be a vampire. I was ready to die that night in the river. I should've died." She said, and Elena nearly growled at her. "I don't believe this." Her twin said angrily, turning on her heel and stalking off into the woods.

Liam looked at her coldly and went after her twin. Katherine held back a sob as she lowered her body back onto the sleeping bag, hand across her mouth. Angel bent down and tried to comfort her, not moving her because he could tell how every little movement caused her immense pain. "I'm gonna go try and talk some sense into them, okay?" He said soothingly. She nodded her head minutely. He leaned down and kissed her temple before standing and heading off in the direction that Elena and Liam had gone. She'd known that they wouldn't take it well, but she hadn't expected that kind of reaction. She'd expected tears and begging, not disbelief and anger!

Suddenly, she heard shouting in the distance, prompting her to struggle to turn her head in the direction of the woods. She sighed, they were probably in an all out yelling match. Liam and Angel were famous for those. They were so alike, that they never really agreed on anything and clashed on everything. A shrill scream pierced the night air, followed by another, neither sounding like anyone that she knew. "Liam, Elena, no!" She heard her father yell. She felt her heart stop. There was someone else in these woods, and Elena and Liam had lost control. They were hunting the humans, and Angel was trying to stop both of them - alone.

She couldn't let him do that, he'd get killed! Even if he did retain all of his vampiric abilities after regaining his humanity, he'd still have trouble reigning one of them in, much less both! She glanced over at the SUV, spying the cooler that had human blood bags inside. She hesitated, knowing that by drinking even a few drops of human blood that she'd make an irreversible choice. She'd damn herself for all eternity. She heard a growl of pain that undoubtedly belonged to her father. Looking back towards the cooler again, she made her mind up. Her dad's life was more important than her's. If she had to choose between saving herself, or saving her father, she'd choose her dad in a heartbeat, no question.

The sun was just setting over the horizon, giving her an hour at tops to actually complete her transition before she literally bit the dust, no pun intended. She tried to push herself to her feet, but she didn't have the strength. With great resolve, she began crawling towards the nearby car, pulling herself with her arms across the red Georgia clay and the grass. Hearing even more screams of fear and pain, she pushed herself even harder, nearly crying out in agony as pain rippled and tore through every cell in her body. She finally reached the still open door of the SUV and pulled herself up, leaning against the car for support, panting heavily. She reached over and opened the cooler, removing the last blood bag from inside it not even bothering to close it again.

She weighed the bag in her hands for a moment before bringing it to her lips, hesitating slightly before tearing it open with her teeth. She swallowed down the thick, surprisingly sweet liquid in long gulps, draining the bag completely, dropping it to the ground when it was empty. She took several deep, calming breaths as she felt the blood doing it's work, completing the transition. She felt rejuvenated. The pain in her body was no longer there, her teeth no longer ached, her head no longer hurt. She had her mobility back. Her muscles felt stronger than ever, like she could take down an elephant with merely a flick of her wrist.

Everything was brighter too, more colorful, more vibrant, more clear. It was like she'd been looking at the world through a dirty, foggy window her entire life, if she were to compare it to something. Her dad was right; she felt like she could do anything, be anyone. She felt invigorated, alive, for the first time in her life. She was meant to be this from the second she'd been born. This was who she really was.

Hearing another scream, she growled, the sound slightly surprising her as it emitted from her throat. Ignoring it, she began running towards the screams and shouts for help, relying on her hearing and smell to guide her to the right spot.

* * *

The trees whizzed by her in jumbled blurs, both exhilarating and slightly frightening her. How was she not getting motion sick? Even as she continued to run, her enhanced sight kept her from colliding with any trees or branches, thankfully.

In a matter of a few seconds, she'd arrived at the scene, taking in Elena cornering the two hikers, one man and one woman, against a rock face in the small clearing, while Liam and Angel were duking it out near the middle. Snarling, she sped over and rammed into Elena, knocking her a good thirty feet away from the hikers and into a tree, knocking her out cold. She turned to them. "Get out of here!" She ordered sternly, and the two humans nodded with wide eyes before taking off at full on dead sprints, wanting to get as far away as possible.

She turned to where her brother and father were, seeing Liam throw a punch that Angel deftly ducked under. Liam, like Elena, was in his vamp face. She didn't know much about real vampire physiology, but she could guess that they were different from how she and her siblings' would look. Liam's normally hazel green eyes now had a blood red color surrounding them where the whites of his eyes would be and prominent veins protruding from the skin in his eye sockets, fading as they neared his cheek bones. His fangs were different from what she'd imagined too. Unlike in the movies, where they typically resembled needle-like teeth, his looked like the canines and first premolars, on both his top and bottom rows, had been lengthened slightly, then filed into sharp points.

She watched as Liam feigned another punch before dropping down to sweep her dad's feet from underneath him. Not anticipating the move, he was knocked flat on his back, off his feet. Liam went to jump on top of him so he could pin him to the ground and then most likely sink his fangs into the flesh of his neck. She saw red. She snarled in rage and flew at him, tackling him off to the side, a few feet away from Angel, just as he landed on him. Angel watched in shock as she seemingly came out of nowhere, taken aback, as she growled at Liam threateningly, pinning him to the ground with her body on top of his and her hand around his throat. "Leave him alone!" She yelled, knowing that she was in what her parents called their 'game face', feeling the fangs in her mouth as she talked.

Liam growled at her in rage, struggling for a few moments before succeeding to throw her off of him. She sped to her feet simultaneously, waiting as he picked himself up from the ground quickly, or, at least, what a human would consider extremely fast, but to her, it felt like an eternity. He roared and charged her, but she simply changed places with him, coming to stand protectively in front of Angel. She bared her fangs at her little brother challengingly, daring him to attack her. Liam stood there, watching her closely, not attacking yet like she expected him to. "You completed your transition?!" She heard Angel murmur loudly to her. Not taking her eyes off her brother, she nodded a few times.

"I heard the screams and growls. I knew what was going on. What was I supposed to do, let you and those hikers die?" She asked incredulously. Liam suddenly smirked at her darkly, and she saw Elena speed up next to him, flanking him. She took in the situation before her: two against one. Not exactly the best odds.

Angel shook his head wryly at her. She was amazing, just like her mother. She was unpredictable, but she was brave, she was resourceful. She didn't care about her own safety or her own needs if someone she loved was in danger. She'd already proven that twice in the past three days, once when she'd demanded that he and Buffy save Elena and Liam from the car first, and again tonight when she'd completed her transition, essentially damning herself for all eternity, simply to save him and two others.

She assessed the situation again. Under no circumstances would she allow Angel to partake in this fight. One wrong punch or kick could land him in the hospital or kill him, and then her mom just might stake her if that happened! She watched them with anticipation, curling and uncurling her fists at her sides nervously. Elena smiled at her evilly before she threw a broken off branch from a nearby tree directly at her. Katherine caught it mere inches from her chest and threw it back at her twin, the brunette having to dive out of the way to avoid it. Liam sped towards her, but she promptly stuck her arm out, catching him in the throat, causing him to slam back into the ground.

They both rose to their feet and rushed her, each throwing a flurry of punches and kicks that she lithely avoided with a grace that was impressive for both a slayer and vampire of her age. After this went on for more than a minute, she finally growled in frustration. The next time Liam went to deliver a kick to her midsection, she grabbed his foot and swung him around, sending him crashing into Elena. They went sprawling on the ground, landing at least ten feet away. _Enough was enough._ As they stood back up, she glared at them, scowling darkly. Immediately, they dropped to their knees and clutched their head in their hands, screaming in agony . Angel's eyes moved between Katherine and his other two children in confusion.

"Kat!?" Liam choked out, letting out a pained yelp immediately after. "Kat, please!" Elena begged. Angel was beside Katherine now, watching as whatever pain Katherine was no doubt inflicting upon them, brought them back to themselves. He grabbed Katherine's arm in an attempt to stop her from subjecting them to anymore of it. His touch brought her back to herself, her eyes, that he now saw had been a complete inky black color, were fading back to their natural chocolate hue. She fell back towards Angel and he caught her. She breathed heavily as she looked around confusedly. "Wha-what happened?" She asked, taking in Elena and Liam's looks of shock mixed with resentment.

"What the hell was that?!" Liam asked her angrily. They all expected her to shrink back and stutter out an apology, but she surprised them all by tilting her chin stubbornly, sending them a disbelieving, scolding look. "What the hell was that?" She parodied, scoffing. "Liam, you tried to kill Dad." She turned to her twin. "And you, you tried to kill two innocent, defenseless hikers." She said coldly. The two fumbled as they tried to come up with a defense, but she simply held up a hand to stop them. "Don't even. I completed my transition, something that I would've never in a million years done if it came down to just my decision alone, because I had to save all of you, from both yourselves and others." She laughed slightly, bitterly. "I-I...I can't even be around any of you right now. I might be tempted to rip one of your heads off, which I'm very capable of now." She said angrily, turning around and beginning to stomp off, back towards the campsite, which was a few miles away.

"Where are you going?" Angel asked worriedly. "I'm going home. You guys can stay here and spend the last night if you want, but I'm gonna go see Mom and Grandpa. They should be home by now anyways." She said with her back turned before transitioning into a run, moving away from them rapidly. She had meant it when she said that she couldn't be around any of them right now, mainly Elena and Liam. If they hadn't reacted the way they had, they wouldn't have gone off into the woods and lost control. Angel wouldn't have left to go stop them and he wouldn't have been put in danger. She wouldn't have had to complete the transition. She somewhat resented them for taking that choice away from her. Sure, she could've just stayed put and died like she'd planned, but that wasn't who she was. Ultimately, she'd been the one to sentence herself to this life. She'd made her bed, now she'd have to lie in it.

* * *

She arrived in front of her house a whole lot faster than she expected. She smiled as she saw the traditional, rather large brick structure in front of her. She'd grown up in this house, on this property. Bremen was a small town with an incredibly sparse number of citizens . The small population made it more common to live on multiple acres of land, like they did. She walked up the steps that led to the porch slowly, briefly taking in her mother's jeep that was parked in the driveway, telling her that they were infact home from Cleveland. She hesitated when she reached the door, pausing as her hand closed around the handle.

After a few moments of deliberation, she backed away from the door, turning and heading back down the stairs. She wasn't ready to see her mom or grandpa yet, there was too much still on her mind, but one thought stuck out above all others. She needed some closure, and there was only one place that she would get that, and it wasn't here at her house. As she hit the driveway, she took off into a run again, heading to the one place that she knew she could find it.

* * *

A few minutes later, she was standing on Oglethorpe bridge, staring down at the river below. Liam's truck had been hauled out sometime over the past three days, seeing as how she couldn't see it sitting anywhere on the river bed, even with her enhanced eyesight. So much had changed in three days. If you would've asked her about her life earlier that week, she'd say that she'd want the American dream: handsome, loving husband, 2.5 kids, a dog, and a nice little white picket fence. Now? All she saw was her life laid out before her, eternal and boundless, but she felt that it would be empty. Sure, she'd live to see some major historical events, no doubt, but then she'd eventually lose every mortal friend or family member that she'd come or would come, to care about over the course of her own life. It was inevitable; they were gonna get old and she wasn't. She was, and forever would be, stuck.

She'd watch them all grow up or grow old, while she remained the same. She had no idea who she was anymore. That girl who'd almost fought her siblings to death over their father's safety? That hadn't been her three days ago. Sure, she'd have done everything in her power to save him, but she wouldn't have been brave or strong enough to fight back. She was changing, and changing fast. She didn't know if she liked this new person she was becoming or not.

She sighed, still looking down at the water. She was so engrossed in it, she didn't even hear her mother walk up to her. "You're not gonna jump, are you?" She teased, making Katherine smile a little. "How did you know where to find me?" She asked, looking at her. Buffy took in how alive she looked. Not even a day ago she'd looked like a walking corpse, and now she was bursting with life. Her skin had returned to it's natural tan color, her face had filled back in. Her hair was shinier and glossier than ever, the curls tighter and more defined. Simply put, she looked beautiful, even moreso now than she ever had before.

"Mother's intuition." Her mom said with a smile, watching her as her gaze turned back to the river below. "What's on your mind?" Katherine shook her head, trying to put her thoughts and feelings into actual words. "I was just thinking about how I feel about all of this." She said cryptically. Maybe it was a family thing. Buffy watched her for a few moments silently. "Your dad told me what happened." She said.

She brought a hand up to caress her hair. "I know this wasn't what you wanted, but honey, I'm so proud of you." Katherine leaned into her hand a little, finally relenting and saying what was on her mind. "I just feel stuck, Mom. Over the past couple days, and even now, I've been trying to hold on to the girl that was supposed to die here with her brother and sister."

She took a few deep breaths. "The girl who had a normal life; whose parents weren't a 295 year old ex-vampire and the slayer, at least, as far as she knew." She said, and Buffy watched her for a few more seconds. "That's the thing, sweetie. You're not that girl anymore. It's okay to let her go." Katherine turned her head toward her mother then, meeting her eyes. "Is it?" She asked, shifting her weight unconsciously. "Cause I feel like... I've disappointed her a little, like... I've disappointed you guys." She said, not looking at her mother. "Well, take it from someone who raised that girl... you haven't changed that much. You're doing a lot better with this than you think." She said encouragingly. Katherine offered her a small smile.

Buffy smiled at her and bent down, picking some small yellow wildflowers from where they'd grown on the bridge, thriving in a place where they shouldn't. Her mother weighed the makeshift bouquet in her hand for a moment before looking back at her. "Here lies Katherine Elizabeth O'Connor. An awesome big sister, and an amazing daughter." Katherine looked at her, both in surprise and gratitude as Buffy tossed the flowers into the river in commemoration. She drew her into a hug as Katherine's eyes followed the little flowers until they'd disappeared into the bridge and out of sight. "Let's go home."

* * *

A few minutes later they walked up the stairs of the house, conversing amiably with one another. Buffy's touching gesture had made Katherine feel slightly better and less off balance with her new life. "Your dad has a surprise for you." Buffy said, her blonde hair practically glowing in the dim porch lights. "Really?" Her face immediately brightened. "A few, actually." Buffy corrected, opening the door to the house and walking inside. Katherine made a move to follow when she hit an invisible barrier of some sort. Frowning, she tried again, and again was denied access to the house.

"Mom? What's going on?" She asked. Buffy blanked, not understanding why Katherine couldn't enter for a moment. "She needs an invitation." Angel explained, walking into the foyer from the living room where Katherine could hear three other distinct heartbeats. "An invitation? To enter my own house?" Katherine asked, trying again to enter, being denied yet again. "Vamps need to be invited in by someone who lives in the house." Buffy replied, having completely forgotten on top of not expecting it. She hadn't had to invite anyone in since Angel and Spike turned human.

Angel watched as she continued to struggle against the magickal barrier. "Do you want me to invite you in or..." He trailed off, letting the sentence hang. She backed up and ran at the door, only succeeding in slamming into the barrier again and getting knocked off her feet. She groaned as she picked herself up off the floor, scowling as Angel smirked at her. "Why don't you come in?" He asked. She immediately felt the barrier give way, allowing her access to the house she'd lived in longer than she could remember. Cautiously, she stepped across the threshold, looking back out the doorway with a frown on her face.

"Huh... weird." She mumbled before facing her parents, plastering a smile on her face. "So, what's this big surprise you guys have got for me?" She asked. "In the living room." Angel said cryptically, making her narrow her eyes at him as he and Buffy began walking towards the living room. Curiosity got the best of her and she followed them, smiling in surprise when she saw two familiar faces in the room, ones that she hadn't seen since she was younger. She completely ignored Giles who was sitting in one of the arm chairs, a glass of bourbon in hand. She didn't think she could even have an amiable conversation with him at the moment.

"Aunt Willow! Uncle Spike!" She said, running forward and giving her favorite red-headed aunt a hug. Katherine frowned as she felt a sudden electrical jolt go through her at her aunt's touch. After a long moment, Willow pulled away, looking the young brunette up and down. "Geez, you've grown up so fast." She commented, making Katherine smile. The sound of Spike clearing his throat made her turn to the platinum blonde ex-vampire. Katherine rolled her eyes playfully before walking over and hugging him tightly. "Look at you," Spike said as they drew apart. "Pretty as a picture." He looked her over a few times, a distant look in his eyes. "If only Damon were here..." He trailed off.

"Uncle Spike..." She whined, trying to convey that she didn't want to talk about it. "You know I'm right, pet. The next time you see him, you're going to look into his devilishly handsome eyes, which he gets from his old man by the way, and realize that he is the only chap for you." She thought he was kidding, but he really wasn't. On top of him still believing wholeheartedly that they were "meant to be", he wanted Damon to have some goal, something to strive for, something that made him want to be a better version of himself.

And if he knew anything, falling in love with someone was a surefire way to do it.

She rolled her eyes, along with everyone else in the room. Spike went to say something else, but was stopped when Angel's smacked him upside the head, making everyone but Spike chuckle. "Bloody hell! What was that for?" He asked as he rubbed the back of his head and stared at her dad. "She's only 15, Spike. And he's 18. Technically, in the eyes of the state, that'd be illegal. He's an adult and she's a minor" He said.

Spike scowled at him. "Not necessarily, mate. If they began dating before the summer was out, they'd be protected by the Romeo &amp; Juliet law." Katherine cocked her head in confusion while Buffy and Angel's eyebrows rose in disbelief. "The what?" Buffy and Willow asked. "The Romeo &amp; Juliet law." Angel and Giles scoffed. "You made that up." Spike laughed, shaking his head. "You only wish I had, Peaches. It's a thing, trust me." Katherine shook her head at him. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Uncle Spike, but Damon and I... SOOO not gonna happen." She laughed, but that didn't deter him in the slightest. "Give me one soddin' reason why not."

She sighed, bringing a hand up to lay on her forehead exasperatedly. "Do we really have to talk about this now?" Buffy shot Spike a pointed look, blatantly telling him to drop the conversation... at least for now. He sighed giving in with a wave of his hand. "Fine... but you know I'm right." He said, leaving the assumption hanging as the subject was changed by Katherine. "Not that I'm not excited that you guys are here, but... why are you here?" She asked Willow and Spike. "Because somebody here needs a daylight thingy." Willow said with a smile.

Katherine looked between Giles and Angel. "I thought you guys could do it. I distinctly remember the words "piece of cake" coming to mind." Angel sighed, but Giles beat him to the explanation. "We could create Liam and Elena's because we were able to do it using the light of the sun. Only a powerful witch can make one at any interval during day or night, I think we'd all sleep a bit sounder if you had your's as soon as possible." Katherine looked back and forth between Willow and Giles before she remembered her mom telling her that Willow was, and still is, a very powerful witch.

Willow nodded, seeing the look of comprehension in her eyes. "I know this is a lot to take in, and it's uber weird finding out about this entire other world. I actually wish we would've told all of you guys sooner." Katherine wanted to ask who "all of you guys" entailed, but she decided that that question could wait. Katherine shook her head to clear her thoughts. "So... you said something about a daylight whatever?" She asked, unsure of what exactly it would be. Liam and Elena had intricate, beautiful rings with lapis lazuli stones, but she didn't want to assume her's was a ring too.

Angel proceeded to dig in his pocket and pull out a small wooden box, one that looked like it'd been through hell and back. He opened it, pulling out a silver locket dangling on an equally silver chain. From her place across the room she could see the lapis lazuli stone that was worked into the front of the locket in between the intricate swirls of silver. The intense blue stone stood out greatly against the antique looking silver of the locket, which somehow managed to shine despite how old it looked.

"Wow." Katherine murmured, at a complete loss for words at the necklace's beauty. Angel set the box down before walking over to her, necklace in his hand. "This has been in my family for a very long time." She looked up at him nervously, not knowing why he was giving her such an old family heirloom. Why not give it to Elena? Why her? "How long are we talking?" They both looked down at the piece of jewelry for a moment. "Well, I know my grandmother told me it'd been in the family for many generations when she passed it to my mother, who passed it to Kathy... I took it from her after I..." He trailed off, and Katherine saw the guilty look in his eyes. "Was the lapis lazuli always in it?" She asked, trying to change the topic. He nodded. "Yeah, it actually was." He said softly, still looking at it.

"It's beautiful." She told him quietly. Seeing that Angel was uncomfortable, Buffy walked forward and gently took the locket from Angel's hand. She tossed it to Willow. "Time to work your magic, Will." Willow watched Katherine for a few moments before she held it out to Katherine. "How about you do it?" Katherine's eyebrows rose comically. "Me?" She asked, pointing to herself. Willow nodded. "You." She said, smiling. "But I'm not a-"

"Witch?" Katherine nodded her head dumbly. "You might wanna guess again, because I know you felt that jolt a few minutes ago, and I can sense how much power you have inside." Willow told her honestly. Katherine hesitantly took the necklace, weighing it in her palm before closing it in her hand. "So, you're saying she's a vampire, slayer, and a witch?" Angel asked, getting a nod from Willow. "She has more power than I do." Not wanting to think about just how powerful Willow was, she decided that she wanted to go ahead and get this over with so that she could finally go to sleep and put this entire, life-changing day behind her.

"So, are we gonna do this or not?"

* * *

With her now advanced hearing, she heard Spike ask her mother if she'd ever dated anyone. "_Nope. Never." _ She could imagine the mischievous smile on her uncle's face. "_Damon was the only guy to ever catch her eye." _ Her mother said conspiratorially. Katherine groaned internally. Not her mom too. "_Is that right?" _Again, she could hear the smile on in his voice.

She heard Angel growl. "_Mo chroi, not you too." _ He nearly whined. She heard her mother walk a few steps forward and hug him. "_Is it really that horrible to imagine Damon being the one to make her happy? We've known him since he was a baby. He's immortal, like she is... I'm not seeing a downside here... You just don't want to imagine our little girl growing up and falling in love, do you? Newsflash Angel, I was 15 when you fell in love with me, and you looked like you were 26... you have no room to talk about age differences." _Katherine purposefully tuned them out as she entered her room.

She wandered over to her dresser, staring into her mirror, examining herself, trying to pick out the small differences that'd taken place in the past couple of hours. She still looked the same, albeit healthier. Same hair, though shinier, her ringlet curls more defined. Her irises were curiously brighter too, more diverse in their coloring, but that was probably just due in part to her now enhanced eyesight. All in all, she didn't see a difference... but she sure could feel it.

Then she turned her attention to the exquisite necklace that Angel had given her less than an hour ago. It hung in just the right way, falling to the center of her chest, not too long or too short in length. It was like it'd been made for her, and she actually felt that it had, like it had been rightly her's for as long as it had been around. She fingered it for a few moments before letting it drop back to rest against her skin.

The spell had been even simpler than Willow had let on, though she didn't want to wonder if that was due to the 'amount of power' she apparently possessed or something else, but it'd felt like child's play to her... Even Willow had been surprised, but she didn't want to think about what that meant, either.

Curiosity getting the best of her, she cautiously shifted into game face, studying the creature staring back at her. What she saw wigged her out slightly, but not too terribly... at least she wasn't all wrinkly and deformed like Nosferatu. She was at least somewhat presentable... even a little bad ass looking if she was being honest.

She shifted back, shaking her head at the silliness of it all. It was pointless to worry about her appearance now, not necessarily because she had anyone she wanted to impress - because she didn't - and it wasn't like it bothered her that much - because it didn't - but for one brief moment, she felt pain at the plain fact of her probably never experiencing a love like her parents had. She'd have friends, she'd have family... but a significant other? Probably not, unless... A flash of dark hair and vibrant blue eyes passed through her mind, but she banished it as quickly as it had appeared. That was _not_ happening, even if she wished otherwise.

She was being ridiculous, but a part of her actually wanted Damon to have feelings for her. She knew it would never happen though. One, he was too old to even give her a second glance. Two, no matter how much Spike pushed for it, it wouldn't change anything. He'd probably grown more gorgeous over the past few years, while she thought she was nothing special. He'd probably take one look at her and take off running in the other direction. She'd never dated because she felt that any guy in her school only wanted to be with her because of her popularity, not for her.

Sighing, she pulled her curls up into a bun and changed into her tank top and pajama shorts before popping in one of her favorite comfort movies, _Lion King 2, _and venturing over to her small fridge and pulling out a carton of cookie dough fudge mint chip and taking it back to her bed so she could couple her favorite comfort food with her favorite comfort movie.

As the movie started, she began to dig into her ice cream, watching as Rafiki brought out Simba and Nala's newborn cub, Kiara, to the other animals of the pridelands to celebrate her birth. As the movie progressed, it showed a young Kiara begging Simba to let her go play away from Pride Rock, which he'd said no to, even given her reasons as to why not. Eventually though, she wore him down and he relented. Nala came up, having watched the entire conversation.

"_Simba, who does she remind you of, hmmm?" _

"_Huh, what, who?"_

"_She's just like you were when you were young."_

"_Exactly, do you remember the dangers we put ourselves in?"_

"_You mean the dangers YOU put us in... She'll be fine."_

That was almost exactly what her relationship was with her dad. He'd scold her for doing things, but he'd been the one to do them when he was younger. "That remind you of anyone?" She heard from the doorway and she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Jesus!" She exclaimed, almost dropping her ice cream tub in surprise as she turned to see her dad peeking into her room. "You know, it's rude to sneak up on someone like that, especially when they are holding precious cargo." She motioned to her carton of ice cream and he laughed. "Mind if I join you?" He asked, and she nodded. He came over and sat down next to her on her bed, revealing a spoon that he'd snagged from the kitchen, and dug in as she pushed play again.

* * *

A/N: How was it? Good, bad, somewhere in between? Let me know :)


	3. Live and Let Die

Title: Heart of Darkness

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. If I had, both series would've been at least headed in this direction.

Genre: Supernatural/Drama (A whole lot of Angst, too)

Rating: M, for later chapters

Pairings: Bangel, Spaith, Fresley, Connor/Dawn, Xander/Cordelia (kinda), OC/OC (5 of them)

A/N: This chapter was really hard for me to write, but I finally finished it. I'm not exactly too sure of this one, but the next one is shaping up to be really good! I'd also like to send a huge shout out to my absolute best friend, pantote-cairete, who has been acting as my pseudo beta for this story since the very beginning and actually did beta this chapter and made it so much better (trust me).

* * *

_I'm gonna fight them all_

_A seven nation army couldn't hold me back_

_They're gonna rip it off_

_Taking their time right behind my back_

_And I'm talking to myself at night_

_Because I can't forget_

_Back and forth through my mind_

_Behind a cigarette_

_And the message coming from my eyes_

_Says leave it alone _

_Seven Nation Army / The White Stripes (Glitch Mob Remix)_

* * *

By the end of the movie, the ice cream had been put back in Katherine's mini fridge, and she was snuggled up next to Angel, her head laying on his chest, listening to the soothing sound of his heartbeat as she fought to stay awake. As the credits began to roll, Angel picked up the remote and turned the tv off, leaving the only light source in the room being her lamp in the corner. He began to carefully move out from under her, thinking she was asleep, when she stopped him. "Dad?" She asked quietly. His hand came up to stroke her cheek. "Yeah, mo leanbh?" He asked. She sat up, looking at him questioningly. "What does that mean?" She asked curiously.

He smiled. "It means 'my child' in Gaelic." She smiled at him. "It's a beautiful language." She murmured. She looked at him again after rolling it off her tongue a few times. "Could you maybe teach me?" He laughed. "I'd love to, but not tonight... it's late and you need to get some rest." He said, leaning forward and kissing her forehead before getting up. "But, what do we-" He turned back to her, stroking her face as he tucked her in bed, like he had when she was little. "We can worry about everything tomorrow, I promise, but for now you need to sleep." She nodded reluctantly, yawning as she snuggled under her covers, cuddling a well-worn stuffed pig to her chest. "I love you, Daddy." She said right as he turned the lights off, his silhouette illuminated in the doorway. "I love you too, baby."

* * *

Bonnie listened as her dad retreated from Katherine's room before quietly sliding out of bed and peeking around the corner just in time to see him disappear into her parents' bedroom. She sighed, leaning against the doorframe. She'd wanted to talk to him about how she was feeling, but all he - and Buffy - had worried about the past couple of days had been her older siblings, and though she knew it was for good reasons, she still felt like she was being ignored.

She felt alone because she was the only completely normal one left in her family. Her siblings were all vampire/human hybrids, her mom was a slayer - she was still trying to figure out exactly what that was - and her dad was some super powered ex-vampire. Then you had her. She wanted to ask what this meant for all of them. They obviously couldn't stay in Bremen and try to keep Katherine, Elena, and Liam out of sight and hopefully out of mind, especially in a small town like theirs. Word traveled fast, and gossip spread through the grapevine like wildfire here.

"Bonnie?" She almost jumped out of her skin when her mom appeared behind her, no doubt having come up the stairs after saying goodnight to Spike and wishing a safe trip to Willow, who was leaving to go back to Cleveland immediately. "What are you still doing up?" She fumbled for a few moments before nervously tucking a stray piece of wavy blonde hair behind her ear. "I, uh... I was gonna ask Dad something... but it can wait." She turned to walk back to her bed, but stopped when Buffy reached out and grasped her arm.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" She asked, watching as the small blonde nodded, not meeting her eyes. "I mean that. I know what it feels like not to have powers, ya know..." She trailed off, smiling gently when Bonnie finally met her eyes. "Really?" She nodded, guiding her into her room and tucking her in bed. "Really. You feel like you don't belong, don't you?" She asked rhetorically. Bonnie nodded once, reluctantly.

"I lost my abilities for awhile the week of my 18th birthday." She seated herself on the bed. "Why? How?" Bonnie asked, both curious and confused.

So, Buffy told her, about all of it - her feelings of helplessness, Giles' betrayal, how the test had been royally screwed up, Joyce's kidnapping, the fight with Kralik, and finally ending with Quentin Travers firing Giles.

Bonnie listened to the retelling attentively, especially to the part where her mother hadn't beaten Kralik with brute force, but had simply outsmarted him instead. As she listened, she became more and more convinced that she wasn't useless and out of place, just different. And being different wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

At least, not in their family - different was kind of the status quo.

After Buffy had told her goodnight and left, the small blonde had no trouble at all drifting off into a peaceful slumber, all of her fears and worries eased for the time being.

* * *

"I mean, I don't want to have to move them during the middle of the school year like Mom did with me, but then I know that we obviously can't stay here. It's one thing to keep slaying a secret, but how are Elena and Katherine going to slay and make sure that no one accidentally sees them? Out of sight, out of mind doesn't exactly work here." Buffy huffed as Angel watched her practically wear holes in the carpet of their bedroom as she paced back and forth agitatedly. "I know," he replied simply.

"So, what are we gonna do? I know what we should do, but I don't want to mess up you and Bonnie. You two still have great things here; Bonnie can still go to school and you have your FBI gig. You shouldn't have to give up something that you love, and I don't want you to." She stopped pacing and plopped down on the bed next to him, her hands massaging her temples. The past few days had been hard - on all of them. She hadn't realized how out of place Bonnie had felt until a few minutes before. She didn't want her to have to give up her chance at a normal life if she didn't have to.

"Hey." She felt his arm slide across her back, settling on her waist, drawing her into his arms. "You're right, I do like my job and the life we've made here... but I love you and the kids more. You know that. We need to do what's best for them, and up until now the best place for them has been here, but it's not anymore. And that's okay. We both know where they need to be, and I'm willing to give up whatever I have to in order to do right by them." She knew that that had been an extremely vague allusion to Connor. He still felt like he hadn't been a good father the first go round, and he'd tried his best not to make the same mistake twice once he was given a second chance.

"But what about Bonnie?" She asked, meeting his eyes. Their youngest shouldn't have to sacrifice her chance at a normal life, and she didn't want her to. "Bonnie will be fine. Besides, she needs to learn about things now that she knows the truth, and it's not like she won't make new friends or that she'll have to give up going to school with the way you and Willow have the school set up. It is the best thing for all of us."

She nodded, laying her head on his shoulder. "So, looks like we're moving to Cleveland then." He nodded, dropping a kiss on her crown. "Looks like it."

* * *

A little past nine the next morning, Katherine trudged down the stairs, clad in her short pajama bottoms and her University of Georgia sweatshirt. When she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to find no sign of anyone, not even her dad, who typically was up early, cooking breakfast. Thinking that maybe they'd overslept, she grabbed a box of cereal from the pantry, milk, and a banana. After she'd put everything into her cereal bowl and gotten a spoon, she grabbed a blood bag from the fridge, smiling when she saw a sticky note on the microwave that told her how to heat it up properly.

She poured it into a coffee mug, like the instructions Angel had left instructed, and then promptly placed it in the microwave, setting the timer and starting it. She walked over and tossed the empty blood bag into the trash before returning to lean against the counter and wait for her blood, her mind wandering to the rather intense but bizarre dream she'd had the night before.

It had been overwhelming. The feelings had felt too real. She could still remember every touch, every caress, every kiss... the only thing she didn't remember was the guy's face. He'd been whispering words of love to her, she'd known that, but she couldn't even begin to remember the sound of his voice either. He'd whispered her name, so many times, and it'd sounded perfect coming from his lips... if she could only remember exactly how perfect it had sounded.

Other things had happened in that dream, things that she wouldn't ever feel comfortable saying out loud. She was blushing profusely right now just thinking about it.

The microwave beeped just then, allowing her to turn her thoughts away from the mysterious stranger and to her meal, which she removed from the microwave and took a sip, sighing as the blood slid down her throat, warming her from the inside out. She grabbed her bowl of cereal and walked over to the kitchen table, immediately focusing solely on her food.

In minutes she had quickly finished her meal and walked over to the sink to wash out both the bowl and the mug, smiling when Mariah Carey's "Emotions" began playing. She hummed softly as the song began, washing out her bowl slowly, turned away from the entrance to the kitchen. She sang along with it, hitting all of the right notes, matching it key for key.

She let herself get lost in the music. No one knew that she could sing, not her parents, or Liam or Elena, or Giles... nobody. She only sang when she was by herself. Music was like a friend; it always listened and allowed you to express yourself in whatever way you wanted. During her free period at school, she'd usually sneak away to her little spot in the woods behind the school, near the cross country trails, and simply listen to music until her next class. She sat the bowl in the sink, wiping her hands off with the dish towel sitting next to the large chrome sink.

One of the reasons she hadn't told anyone that she could sing was that no one else in her family - save for Giles - could sing, at least to her knowledge. Her mother balked at singing period, even if it was on the radio. The only music her dad would sing to was Barry Manilow, which was an ear bleeder in her honest opinion. She didn't know if Elena, Bonnie or Liam could sing, but she could assume that they couldn't. It was just another thing that made her feel like a fish out of water in her family. She didn't like popularity, which was odd considering that Elena and Liam both revelled in attention. Bonnie was a little bit more reserved, but nowhere near her level.

She began dancing around the kitchen, feeling carefree for the first time since her world turned upside down. That'd been four days ago now, meaning that today was Tuesday. The past few days between the accident and completing the transition had been somewhat of a blur. She could remember it, but it was like she was watching the memories through dirty windows.

She continued singing, unaware that Spike and a green, horned demon were standing at the doorway, watching and listening as the beautiful brunette teen bounced around the kitchen, enjoying herself.

As soon as she finished the song, Spike and Lorne began clapping, making her jump in surprise. They both entered the kitchen, and the two were surprised how much Lorne's appearance failed to faze her. "You never told me you could sing like that, pet." Spike told her, making her blush. "Well, you never asked." She said shyly, brushing a strand of glossy chocolate curls behind her ear. "That range! That voice!... To think, a powerhouse like you born from two of the absolute worst singers I've ever heard." The green demon gushed. Katherine giggled. Whoever this guy was, she liked him! Spike rolled his eyes. "Excuse green jeans over here, he's kinda a big deal in the music world... behind the scenes, that is." Katherine raised her eyebrows and smiled before extending her hand.

"We haven't officially met, I'm Katherine." She smiled as he took her hand, kissing the back of it. "I would tell you my real name, Kitty Kat, but you'd never be able to pronounce it... I go by Lorne. And for the record we have met before, you were just very, very young." Katherine studied him for a few seconds before memories began rushing back. She'd chalked him up to being her imaginary friend or something in her memory, but she did remember him playing with her... singing to her - thankfully - to get her to fall asleep.

"I remember you." She smiled, stepping forward to give him a hug, surprising them yet again. "That's great to hear, kid." She pulled back and smiled again. "Boy, you were a cute kid, but wow! You've grown into a knockout... Any young suitors come to knock on your door, only to be driven away by Angelcakes yet?"

She shook her head, but laughed all the same. Spike elbowed him. "You already knew that, mate." He said softly before turning his eyes back to the petite brunette. "Lorne here is what's called an empath demon. He hears a person sing and then he can tell them their future." He shot a knowing glance at the green Pylean. "So, green jeans... got anything about her love life from that little pleasant surprise performance..." He turned to Katherine. "Which was spectacular, by the way." He assured her.

"I did get a helluva lot of insight into the love department for you, my songbird." Spike waited expectantly. "And?" He wanted Lorne to say that she and Damon were destined, that they were written in the stars, because he was that romantic, and she knew that. She'd known for a long while that he'd been pulling for the two of them, but she had absolutely no idea what had induced that notion. "There is definitely some kyrumption in your future, my lovely." Lorne told her, rolling his eyes when Spike nudged him. "What's kyrumption?" She asked. Spike waved a hand in her direction. "There's this whole confusing definition, but it's basically the Pylean -where he's from- equivalent of a soulmate." Katherine swallowed thickly when Spike nudged Lorne again.

"Yes, Spike. You've been right all along, is that what you want to hear?" Lorne asked rhetorically, but Spike answered anyways. "It'll do until I get to see Peaches' face when my boy sweeps this little beauty off her feet." Katherine quirked an eyebrow. "Ummm... still here." She said, sounding a lot like Buffy in that moment. "Ah, there's the Slayerkins in her." Lorne muttered. Spike smiled at her. "Well, pet, looks like I was right after all... Peaches and I are going to be in laws!"

Katherine frowned. "Spike, as much as I wish you were right, Damon and I will-" Lorne interrupted her. "Sorry, sweetcheeks, but I read Damon too a little while ago and saw the exact same thing. I saw kyrumption and your face... it doesn't get much clearer than that." She chewed on her lip, letting it sink in before she changed the subject. "So... where is everybody?" She asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the countertop. "Well, Liam and Elena are still sleeping, and Peaches, the Slayer, Buffy Jr. and Giles are out." She cocked her head. "Out?" Spike sighed heavily. "They're at the funeral."

"Funeral? What-" Her mouth snapped shut, a look of realization appearing on her face. Their funeral. A few beats of awkward silence passed between them before Lorne finally broke it. "Right then, uh, Spike... why don't you show me the rest of this lovely property." He said with raised eyebrows, tilting his head towards the door. "Right, uh, pet... don't go anywhere, okay?" She nodded reluctantly, watching them walk out the back door.

* * *

A few minutes later, she wandered into the living room, finding the television on and tuned to the local news station. She grabbed the remote from the couch side table and plopped down on it, slouching as she prepared to change the channel. _"And in other news, the funerals of Katherine, Elena, and Liam O'Connor are to be held today at Creekside cemetery. The teenaged siblings, Katherine and Elena, 15, and Liam, 14, were found dead after their car drove off of Oglethorpe bridge Friday night on the way to the football game. Liam was the starting quarterback of the Timberwolves and the girls were both cheerleaders. The cause of death was ruled to be parents have not commented on their loss as of yet."_

She watched as images of the three of them flashed across the screen as the reporter spoke, but as soon as the snippet was done, a red, flashing alert passed across the screen._ "This just in. A group of armed gunman have entered the High School, police are on their way-"_

Katherine turned off the tv, bringing her hand up to her forehead and taking a deep breath. She couldn't just sit around and do nothing. She had the power to do real good now. She could save them. Her parents were still at the funeral, Spike and Lorne were outside, and Liam and Elena were still asleep. She could sneak out easily.

She moved to get up when a blinding pain ignited at the back of her skull, her mother's voice radiating through her. _"From now on, every girl in the world who might be a Slayer...will be a Slayer. Every girl who could have the power will have the power; can stand up, will stand up. Slayers ... every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?"_ She gasped as the pain abruptly ended, panting like she'd just run a marathon. She moved to get up again, walking with purpose up to her room. Even though she'd never heard her mother give a speech like that in her life, somehow she knew that she had said it before.

_"Are you ready to be strong?"_ The question swirled around in her head as she walked into her room and began sifting through her drawers, trying to find some clothes to throw on. _"Every girl who could have the power will have the power; can stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us. Make your choice."_ She realized that she was making the choice. She was ready to be strong, she would stand up. She threw on a black tank top, black hoodie, and black athletic leggings, pulling the hood up over her head. She was supposed to be dead, if any of the students recognized her, there would be questions.

"Kat?" She heard her twin ask from her doorway, wiping the corner of her eye, trying to banish the sleep from it. Liam stood beside her, hair in disarray, as he did the same. "Where are you going?" He asked. She looked in the mirror once more before walking out of her room, passing them. "Nowhere that you're going." She said as she walked down the hall and into her parents' room with her two younger siblings on her tail. She studied the room for a few moments before walking over to the bookcase. She needed weapons, and she knew that they'd have to have a hidden stash somewhere... a bookcase just made sense somehow.

She looked at the large piece of furniture for a moment before swiping all of it's contents to the floor, trying to find a switch that would open it. Surprisingly, it wasn't a book that did the trick, but a bookend. Pulling it like a lever, the sound of whatever latches keeping the bookcase from opening unlocked, making the bookcase swing open to reveal a small room full of weapons. It had everything from stakes to katanas to scythes to guns. She immediately grabbed a pistol off the wall and made sure it was loaded before stuffing it into the back of her leggings.

Next she grabbed an odd-looking contraption that strapped onto her wrists with a stake loaded into the underside of it. She fastened it in the appropriate place, pulling the sleeve of her hoodie back over it to hide it. She went to close the weapons room when Liam grabbed her arm. "Kat, whatever is going on... we want in. We're strong too." She debated with herself for a few moments before relenting. "There's a group of armed gunmen at school." Before she even finished speaking, both of them had entered the room and grabbed a few weapons, whooshing into their rooms and dressing in all black, like her, before she even realized what was going on. "Count us in," they replied, in tandem.

Katherine went to close the bookcase when she felt something tugging at her, practically screaming at her from inside the small room. Curious, she re-entered, ignoring the questioning looks from her brother and sister, immediately spying a scythe in the corner, hanging on the wall. She walked over and picked it up, gasping as the wood made contact with her skin. "Kat?" She swallowed thickly, pushing down the rush of power that had suddenly washed over her before walking out with it. "I'm fine, let's go."

* * *

"They're gone? They bloody well left the house, after I told them to stay put!" Spike growled, pacing in the living room while Lorne watched the tv, sitting up straighter when the same alert came on the tv about the gunmen at the school. "Angel is gonna kill me, and Buffy might as well drive a stake through my-" Lorne interrupted him. "Uh, oh white stag... I think I know where they went." Spike looked at the tv, chuckling when he saw the headline. He knew exactly where they went. "Just like their parents, the lot of them..." He trailed off as none other than Angel, Buffy, Bonnie, and Giles entered the living room, immediately seeing the looks on both of their friends' faces. "Uh, Angel... we've got a problem."

* * *

They made it to the school in no time, having employed their newfound super speed in order to get them there unnoticed. They bypassed the police by choosing to enter the grounds through the back, where the woods were, instead of trying to sneak into the front of the school. "Alright, we assess the situation first. We need to know if they're human or not." Katherine said as they snuck up to the edge of the woods, looking for the best way to enter without being seen. "If they're human?" Elena asked. "Then we knock all of them out but one and then compel one to go out and surrender."

Liam and Elena looked at each other before turning back to her. "Uh, we don't know how to compel anyone..." Liam trailed off. "Dad didn't teach you guys?" Both shook their heads. She groaned inwardly. She'd been banking on them at least knowing how to do that. "Well, then we'll just have to figure something different out if they are, I guess."

"And if they're... not?" They crouched down behind a tree, watching as a group of policemen made their way along the back of the building. "Then we dust them if they're vamps and kill them if they're demons... demons do exist, right?" She asked as an afterthought. Both Liam and Elena shrugged. "How're we supposed to know? They've barely told us anything really... We don't even know what real vampires look like." Katherine nodded, beginning to move from behind the tree as the group of officers rounded the corner, walking out of sight. "Then I guess we'll find out."

* * *

"What do you mean they're gone!" Angel yelled, earning a wince from Lorne while Spike quickly tried to placate him. "Peaches, look, I'm sure they're gonna be fine, they probably just went out for a little-" Buffy interrupted him as she descended the stairs. "They found the weapons stash." Spike swallowed thickly. He was so screwed. "How did they even manage to get by you guys? I told you to make sure they didn't leave the house!" Lorne tried to jump in and placate Angel. "Uh, that's partly my fault, actually, Angelface... I asked Spike to show me more of your property, which is quite lovely, by the way, and when we came back 15 minutes later, they were gone."

"What on earth would even compel them to leave the house, especially when they knew that doing so could have potentially catastrophic consequences?" Giles mused from his position next to Bonnie on the couch. Spike and Lorne shared a look before the blonde finally answered. "There was a, uh, there was, well is, a shooting going on at the school. Katherine must've been watching the telly when she saw the report. My guess is that she went upstairs and found your little weapons cache, which couldn't have been hard to do. I mean, a bookcase? Really? A bloody two year old could've figured that one out."

Spike half expected Angel to react, possibly somewhat violently, at the jab, but he remained silent, brooding... Oh for the love of all that was holy! He'd gone nearly 15 years without so much as a solemn look, and he chose now to slip back into old habits? "And little miss Slayerkins Jr. probably didn't intend to drag the other two along on her impulsive decision, but knowing what I know, and knowing who their parents are, it doesn't surprise me if they told her they were going whether she liked it or not." Lorne said pointedly, sending Buffy and Angel a knowing glance.

* * *

Katherine peaked around the corner, peering down a hallway on the second floor. She'd opted to check the second floor while Liam and Elena had divided the first between the two of them, each taking a different wing of the school. Sensing that the coast was clear, Katherine quickly - but silently - darted down the hall until she reached the next corner, where the main hallway forked in two, each heading in opposing directions.

"I want to feed! Why do we have to wait?" Holding back her gasp of surprise, she quietly looked around the corner, seeing two figures standing about halfway down the hallway from her, both facing away from her. "Because he said so!" The other figure said frustratedly, obviously annoyed by his companion's complaining. "But there are at least 400 human blood bags in this place and I know I'm not the only one who's hungry." The more sensible of the two stopped, pulling the other around to face him, giving Katherine her very first view of what she easily deduced was a vampire.

Her eyes widened as they took in the protruding, wrinkled, pronounced forehead, paired with fangs - ones that were different than her's. Her's weren't nearly as jagged or long, retaining more of their appearance from when she was human, minus the four teeth that sharpened into subtle, deadly points. Her hand came up to touch her forehead absently, wondering why her's wasn't like that. There weren't any veins stemming from the vampire's eyes either - like her's - but the eyes... they seriously freaked her out.

The piercing, almost glowing, yellow of them chilled her to the bone. In no way did that look even remotely human. At least when she was in game face her eyes were the same, minus the red surrounding her irises. But the eyes betrayed what vampires really were - demons wearing human skins. In no way were they living things. She knew that there was nothing there worth saving, just soulless monsters who took what they wanted and didn't care about the consequences.

She watched as the vampire's eyes flicked briefly to where she was, making her quickly pull back, hiding behind the wall that hid her from view, as she slid down it quietly, hoping that he hadn't seen her. She gripped the scythe tightly in her hands, fully prepared to use it if the need arose.

After a few more minutes of the two talking - more like arguing - the two went on their way, walking further down the hallway and turned yet another corner, and she barely made out one of them say that they were going to a classroom a little deeper, towards the heart, of the school.

Once they were out of sight, she silently crept down the hallway, following the two's scent, simultaneously hoping that all the students were together, and praying that they weren't.

* * *

"I can't believe she took my scythe!" Buffy grumbled as Spike and Angel followed their scents through the woods, coming up to the tree line, watching the guards make their rounds along the back of the building. "Well, if you think about it, if she is the next true slayer, then it's just as much her's as it is- hey!" Spike rubbed the back of his head where Angel had whacked him - for the second time in 24 hours. "Shut up, Spike." He muttered.

"Can you two, I don't know, not start this right now?" Buffy asked, looking between the two with an annoyed scowl.

Spike rolled his eyes before changing the subject. He wasn't in the mood to be abused anymore today. "So, what's the plan of attack?" They all watched as the police officers disappeared around the far side of the building, immediately making their move and transitioning into a run.

* * *

She followed their scents until they turned and entered a set of double doors which led to the second level hallway of the gym which provided access to the bleachers. Checking to make sure no one would see her, she slipped inside, hiding in the shadows and watching as the large group of vamps - probably about 20 or so - finished corralling her former teachers and classmates, watching them all hungrily, and she would be lying if she didn't admit that the scent of so much warm blood and the sound of hundreds of hearts pumping didn't make her mouth water and her face shift for a few moments before she shook her head, regaining her bearings.

She watched the group of vamps converse amongst themselves, sometimes pointing directly at several students like they were picking out pigs to later slaughter at the county fair.

She crept closer before quickly - and silently - speeding down the stairs, coming to a stop under the bleachers where no one could see her. She took in their demeanor and her former classmates' hushed whispers and whimpers of fear. She noticed that they looked uncomfortable, and only a second later she realized why. The large windows on the far side of the gym were allowing bright rays of brilliant light from the sun, casting it down onto the wood of the gym floor, inching closer and closer to the group of vampires with each passing moment.

She was happy that she was wearing her daylight necklace, or she would probably be feeling the same agitation.

Suddenly, one surged forward, dragging one of her teachers - Mr. Baker - to the middle of the gym, laughing good naturedly at what one of his buddies said. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the grins on their faces. They thought they could get away with this massacre and then slither back into the sewer system - where they no doubt came from - like a snake crawling back into it's hole. She wasn't about to give them that satisfaction.

She was just about to storm out there, secret keeping be damned, when Mr. Baker did something that not even she expected.

He wrenched his arm free, reached in his pocket, and pulled out a stake, driving it into his captor's heart. A second later all that was left was a pile of ash.

Not wasting another second, making sure her hood was in place, she sped out onto the court, grabbing the next vamp that advanced on him and threw him across the room, right into the sunlight. She was rooted to the spot as he immediately went up in flames, screaming in agony as he burned until he exploded into a cloud of dust.

While she was distracted, a vamp managed to punch her square in the jaw, sending her to the ground and making her drop the scythe, sending it sliding across the floor. As her ears rang, she could just make out the sounds of her brother, sister, mother, and Spike all corralling the hostages, ushering them out the doors of the gym, and her father's footsteps as he raced to help her.

She sped into a standing position, her hood falling down, revealing her face... right in front of her teacher. "Katherine?" He asked, his eyes widening as he took her in. She smirked, reaching into her pockets and pulling out the two holy water grenades that Liam had given her before they'd split up. Turning away from him, she faced the cadre of vampires that were just beginning to move towards them and pulled the pins from the grenades.

"Kaboom," she quipped, smirk still firmly in place.

She tossed both at them, smiling in victory as they exploded in midair, the holy water raining down on the vampires, making their skin sizzle as they collapsed to the ground in pain. Before she knew it, Angel had picked up the scythe and began beheading as many as he could. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He growled as he continued to dispose of several more incapacitated vampires. "Saving people... isn't that what I'm supposed to be doing?"

She ducked when one of the vamps who hadn't been doused with holy water threw a punch directed at her cheek.

She choked when she inhaled vamp-dust.

Looking up, she saw Mr. Baker standing over her, offering her a hand to help her get up. Grateful for the gesture, she took it, kicking a vampire that snuck up behind him. Behind her, she heard a loud crack, and she turned just in time to see another vampire explode into dust, it's neck contorted at an unnatural angle. "How did you do that?" She backhanded a vampire that she felt come up behind her.

"I don't think now's the right time." Angel grunted, throwing the next vampire that rushed him to the ground and used the stake at the end of the scythe to stab him in the heart. "Are you kidding? What better way to learn than to practice on the real deal?" She shoved another into the sunlight, leaving only three left, which quickly became two as Mr. Baker staked another.

She and Angel both grabbed the last remaining vampires at the same time, and Angel sighed, relenting. "Fine." He grabbed the vampire's chin in one hand and the back of his head with another and then twisted as hard as he could, going slowly so she could see what he'd done. She watched as Angel's vampire turned to a pile of ash before replicating his actions, placing her hands in the right spots. Just before she twisted, the vampire broke free, spinning and grabbing her upper arms in a vice-like grip.

The next thing she knew, his fangs had pierced her throat.

Within seconds she managed to push him away, which resulted in him shoving her away, sending her flying across the room. Disoriented, she shook her head, trying to regain her bearings. From her position on the ground, she watched as the vampire now advanced on her dad and Mr. Baker, and even though she knew they could hold their own, something inside her snapped.

She pushed herself up and launched herself at him, grabbing him by the shoulders to spin him around to face her before grasping his throat in one hand, pulling him to her. In less than a second, her face shifted and her fangs buried themselves in his neck viciously, tearing into the skin there for a few seconds before pulling away, mouth and chin covered in his borrowed blood, and shoving him so that he collapsed onto his knees in front of her.

"Stay the hell away from my father." She growled lowly, still in game face, staring down at him with contempt. Instead of being intimidated or scared of her, he simply chuckled, taking in her face with slight amusement. "So it is true." His eyes went back and forth between Angel and Katherine several times before they finally settled on her again. "And I thought he was just insanely obsessed." Her eyes narrowed as he chuckled again. "But he also thought you were human... I don't think that'll stop him though. He's not so easily deterred." He muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.

"He's coming for you." He said lowly, his tone sending chills down her spine. "Who's "he"?" She asked. The vampire shook his head, chuckling wryly. "It's no use trying to escape him either, 'cause if you do, he'll simply take his vengeance out on your friends, your family, and on anyone that you've ever cared about." She growled threateningly, not liking how he hadn't answered her question, or how what he'd just said had made a sickeningly foreboding feeling settle in the pit of her stomach.

She watched as he thought for a moment before looking up at her again. "I should just kill you, save you from dying at his hands." She cocked her head, his words not really registering until he'd plunged his fist into her chest, and she nearly gagged as she felt his hand clawing around inside her, searching for her heart. Thankfully, he'd misjudged where it was and had missed completely. Her instincts taking over, she growled, enraged at what he'd done.

"You missed." She spat before taking his head in her hands and twisting with all of her might, a loud crack reverberating around the large space as his lifeless - even more so than it had been before - body collapsed to the ground, turning into a cloud of dust.

She stared at his ashes angrily, feeling hatred course through her with startling intensity, still on edge from him practically threatening her father - and her family.

"Katherine." She spun slowly, still partially in shock from what she'd done, the blood beginning to dry and cake itself to the skin of her jaw. Angel approached her slowly, not knowing how she was going to ultimately react to what had just happened. "I'm fine, Dad." She said, cursing herself for allowing her voice to shake minutely. Her eyes then turned to Mr. Baker, completely and totally at a loss for how she was going to explain herself.

He held up a hand before she could even utter a single syllable. "I understand, and I won't tell anyone... tell your mom I said hi for me." He said cryptically, sending her a pointed look before turning around and walking out of the gym, casting a nervous glance in Angel's direction as he went.

* * *

Jennifer Mason cautiously opened the door of the janitor's closet that she'd been hiding in just a smidge, trying to see if there was anyone in the hallway. Seeing no one, she quietly crept out, closing the door as silently as she could. She failed to see the vampire - the only one that had survived the skirmish - that snuck up behind her, grabbing the brunette and covering her mouth with a hand before dragging her down to the sewer access in the boiler room.

* * *

A few hours and a nice long shower later, Katherine hoisted herself over the fence that led to the pasture, smiling when she saw the small, mix-matched herd grazing in the distance. She hadn't been to see them in nearly a week - Bonnie had taken over in the wake of recent events - and it was one part of her old life that wasn't going to change and she was thankful for it. Walking out in the pasture, seeing the horses... it acted like a security blanket. It soothed her in a way that nothing else ever could.

As she walked up to the group of six, she laughed slightly as all of their heads popped up in order to see the newcomer, whinnying happily when they saw her. She let out a sigh of relief when they didn't react at all to her newfound state. She was happy to see that they'd missed her too, and she found herself questioning why she hadn't ventured out earlier that day, or even late last night.

There was Angel's large black Friesian stallion, Ahearn, who towered over all of the other horses, in both stature and overall mass. He'd been the first horse that they'd had. Apparently Angel had been an avid horseman back when he was younger, and she didn't doubt it now knowing what she knew about his past. He'd begged and begged Buffy to let him get one, and eventually she'd relented and agreed. It wasn't like they had lack of space, anyways. They had a ton of land and an unused barn, which had been both vacant until they'd bought Ahearn.

Then, a year later, Angel had surprised Buffy with a horse of her own, a white Arabian mare named Arabella. At first, Buffy was hesitant - she'd never even ridden a horse before - but after being taken on a few rides around the property and learning the ropes, she'd started to love it.

On Katherine and Elena's 13th birthday, they'd both been given their own horses, but only after proving that they could take care of one first. Katherine had been given her dark bay filly, and Elena had been given Ben's twin brother, a pitch black foal - now colt - named Devil's Advocate. Apparently their dad had called in some favor from a billionaire named David Nabbit, and just like that they'd owned two of the most impressively bred Thoroughbreds ever.

Liam was given a chestnut Quarter Horse colt, whom he'd affectionately name Rebel, on his 13th birthday a year later, cementing the tradition. On Bonnie's birthday, only a few months before, Angel and Buffy had surprised her by giving her Arabella and Ahearn's newborn buckskin filly, Blaze.

Without even having to ask, Ben galloped over to her and greeted her, and for a moment, Katherine allowed herself to indulge in the false belief that the past few days hadn't happened.

She swung up onto her back and urged her into a gallop, heading away from the other horse and toward their favorite spot by the lake. She didn't care that her parents always got mad at her for riding bareback, telling her that one day she'd end up falling off and breaking something, but that didn't deter her in the slightest. It was just easier to hop up on her back and take off than to mess with saddling her up. She relaxed and relished in the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair as the other horses and the house disappeared from sight.

* * *

"And then the vamp went all human torch and exploded, which was really kinda awesome." She bit into her apple, watching from her position propped up against the large tree as Ben cocked her head and one ear went back in confusion. She giggled before taking another bite of the apple, marveling at how it still tasted just how she remembered. She'd expected food to taste bland and flavorless, like the sandwich had while she'd been in transition, but it wasn't.

Spike had told them that since they were only half vampire that they still had to eat human food and she was glad for it, because she didn't think she could mentally stomach living off blood alone. The thought of not being able to have competitions with Liam, Elena, and Bonnie about who could finish a Big Mac off the fastest was slightly depressing, even though they all got major stomach aches afterwards, without fail. It had been a tradition for years that she would've been sad to give up.

She took one last bite before offering the rest to her filly, which she consumed within seconds. Katherine dusted her hands off on her jeans before standing up and stretching with a yawn.

Her thoughts returned to how the vampires had exploded in the sunlight. Her hand came up and fingered the silver and blue lapis lazuli locket that Angel had given her, wondering what it really felt like. Granted, she would never purposefully step out into the sunlight without it, but she hadn't experienced it like Liam or Elena had.

Cautiously, still under the shade of the large oak tree, she unclasped her necklace and stepped up to the edge of the shade. She stuck her hand out into the winter sunlight, immediately feeling the first layer of skin begin to burn and disintegrate. "Katherine!" She gasped - both in pain and surprise - pulling her hand back as she saw her dad dismount Ahearn and run over to her.

"What the hell are you doing?" She quickly secured the necklace around her neck before looking up at him guiltily. "I-I was curious?" She winced, rolling the small, circular locket around in her fingers nervously. He quirked an eyebrow at her, crossing his arms across his chest. "You know what they say-"

"Curiosity killed the cat, I know." She said exasperatedly, having heard him recite that expression more times than she could count. He sighed, his arms falling to his sides as he joined her in the shade. They both remained there - in slightly comfortable silence before he began walking towards the lake and she took the unspoken hint that he wanted her to follow him.

After a few minutes, she finally plucked up the courage to look at him. "We're moving, right?" She asked, shoving her hands in her jean pockets as they continued to walk the perimeter of the lake. "Yeah." She'd known as much, but the thought of moving was so foreign to her that the prospect was almost frightening. This house, this land, this town was all she knew, and knowing that she was going to have to give that up hurt like she hadn't believed it could.

"Where?" She asked simply, kicking at a stray rock with her boot as they continued around the worn, man-made path. "Cleveland." It only took her a few seconds to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"That school that Mom and Willow run..." She trailed off, having figured out exactly what it was used for and why they were moving there. It wasn't that hard. She and Elena were slayers, there were a multitude of slayers all over the world that needed guidance... what better place was there to teach them the skills they needed to learn than an actual school?

"But, why Cleveland?"

"Because it sits on top of a hellmouth." At her dubious look, he elaborated. He was so used to the people around him knowing what a hellmouth was that he wasn't exactly sure how to explain it. "A hellmouth is a center of mystical convergence where the barriers between this dimension and several hell dimensions are particularly weak, weak enough to the point where portals connecting this dimension to a hell dimension are possible. Hellmouths attract demonic activity because of it, "hot spots" if you will."

He watched her face as she put even more of it together, and he knew she wasn't simply dwelling on what a hellmouth was, but she was taking what she'd been told over the past few days and piecing it together like a puzzle. "Sunnydale was a hellmouth, wasn't it? That's why Mom moved there from LA... Was she the one who made it collapse?" At his mildly surprised look, she shrugged. "It may have come up in history once and I listened." She said simply.

"She was definitely a part of it." He admitted, not going into detail because that wasn't important anymore in the grand scheme of things. The First Evil was gone and nothing had tried to open a hellmouth since Sunnydale. He doubted such a thing would happen in Buffy's lifetime - the demonic world knew that it would be pointless to try.

"So, you guys are gonna train us?" She asked hesitantly. Was she going to have to give up traditional school completely? "That's definitely a part of it, yes, but you'll still go to school and learn, though some subjects might be a little less normal than you're used to."

She nodded a few times, happy that there would be a happy medium there, at least. "What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going with you guys, obviously." He was silent for a few moments. before he spoke again. "I guess I'll teach some sort of class and then work with you all on training and sparring and whatever else Mom and Willow ask me to do." He grinned when he saw a smirk pull up the corner of her mouth, and he knew all too well that signaled some sort of sarcastic comeback. It was the same smile that Buffy gave him when she would tease him.

"You gonna show me your moves, old man?" She laughed when he froze, the expression on his face priceless, though he didn't take the jab seriously. She was too busy laughing to pay attention to him, only to find herself flying through the air and into the icy water a few seconds later. Still in shock, she easily swam up to the surface, finding him immediately, seeing him try to keep from laughing his ass off. That was the third "shower" she'd taken in the past 24 hours.

"I'm sorry, who're you calling old?" He quipped, chuckling at the petulant frown that spread across her face. "Remember that for training - You might be stronger than me, but I've been around a long time. Age doesn't necessarily mean weakness, especially not in vampire terms." He smiled when she rolled her eyes after swimming up to where her feet touched the bottom, her arms crossing across her chest in annoyance.

He turned around, whistling for Ahearn before shooting a mischievous smirk in her direction. "After dinner, you're going on patrol, so you might wanna dry off." She watched him with undisguised anger, though nothing even remotely serious, as he hoisted himself onto Ahearn's back and began to quickly make him way back towards the house.

A few seconds later, Ben arrived at the bank, watching her with what she swore was a barely suppressed expression of amusement. She rolled her eyes again as her filly whinnied, like she was laughing at her expense. "Shut up."

* * *

Buffy, Angel, Katherine, and Liam trudged through the cemetery later that night in comfortable silence, not having found anything worth slaying so far. Earlier, they had left a rather reluctant Elena at the house to look after Bonnie, not trusting Spike or Lorne to keep a watchful enough eye on her. She was just as stubborn as the rest of them, and if today proved anything, it was that they didn't take instruction very well. The look on Bonnie's face when they'd told Elena to stay behind and watch her had said enough.

She'd huffed in indignation before complaining how unfair it was and stomping off to her room to pout. Elena had simply plopped down on the couch and had turned the tv on begrudgingly while Spike, Lorne, and Giles argued over movie choices before Elena finally grew tired of their bickering and picked Grease. It had turned out to be a good choice and appeased everyone.

As Katherine walked alongside her parents and brother, she thought about how Bonnie must be feeling about everything. It was hard enough on her end with dealing with what she was now and her parents' pasts, but it had to be even harder on Bonnie when she was still normal and completely human. Katherine couldn't even begin to imagine what she must be thinking, and honestly, she didn't know how she would've reacted if that had been her instead.

Then, her thoughts turned from her little sister to what had happened earlier at the school. The way she'd reacted to that one vamp had scared her. It had almost been like she couldn't stop herself from tearing into his neck, or snapping it out of anger, for that matter. But that wasn't bothering her nearly as much as the person that he had spoken of, who he'd said had been looking for her. What would anyone - especially someone as powerful as the vampire had led her to believe - want with her?

The only thing special about her was her parentage, but he'd specifically said the word human, and she couldn't even begin to comprehend what anyone would've wanted with human-her. And all the talk about it being pointless to run because whoever it was would punish her family for it? She didn't know what to make of it - any of it - and the more she thought about it, the more it started wigging her out.

She listened as he mom began to make conversation, her dad and her brother joining in immediately while she stayed silent. Eventually, it was so overwhelming that she couldn't hear herself think. She stopped, looking to the right and to the left before glancing at Buffy, Liam, and Angel, who were all watching her expectantly.

"I'm gonna go... check this way." She said lamely, pointing off to the side and making her way in that direction, wanting to get away before one of them volunteered to go with her. "I'll come with you." She grimaced, pausing as she heard her father offer the very thing she didn't want. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder, shaking her head. "No, Dad. I'll be fine." She tried to reassure him, silently conveying with her eyes what she didn't say out loud.

It was enough to convince him that she would be fine and she needed to be alone for a bit. Nodding in thanks, she turned her back on them and walked off into the night, deeper into the cemetery.

* * *

Quietly, Bonnie tip toed out of her room, peering down from the balcony, looking into the living room, seeing Spike, Lorne, and Giles all engrossed in the movie while Elena snoozed on the couch with a pillow over her head and a blanket covering the rest of her. Judging that they were all too involved in what they were doing to hear anything, she went back to her room and covered two pillows on her bed with her comforter, making it look like she was sleeping, before going to the window and opening it slowly, climbing out and shutting it silently.

She wasn't just going to sit around and let them baby her like they were; she was old enough to be able to handle this, shouldn't she? She knew she could and it only frustrated her that they

didn't seem to have any faith in her whatsoever. She grinned as she lowered herself down so she could climb down the lattice that was conveniently located just outside her window.

She paused for a moment after dropping to the ground, listening to see if any of them had heard her, before she took off, headed in the direction of the town cemetery.

* * *

The small blonde teen scanned the mass of graves in her view, not seeing any sign of her sister, brother, or parents... not that she wanted to. She didn't want to think about the consequences of her actions or how she would be punished for them - she just wanted to see what she was missing.

She wandered further into the cemetery, passing a large willow tree as she went, nearly jumping out of her skin when she heard a crow caw from it's position on one of the branches of the tree. She scowled, hating that it had been able to scare her like that. Even though she'd been in the cemetery earlier that morning, seeing it in the dark made it look like an entirely different place.

She walked up to the crow as it continued cawing and, after a few tries, succeeded in getting it to fly away. "That's what I thought." She said to herself, turning away from the tree, only to jump again as the same crow appeared right in front of her, perched on a gravemarker, cawing. Then, she heard a series of coyote howls in the distance; shrill, almost demonic sounding in nature, that set her heart racing.

She quickly began walking away from the crow and the howls, berating herself for how impulsive she'd been in sneaking out. What could she do to help, or more importantly, how on earth was she supposed to defend herself if anything actually did attack her? Her only hope at that point would be to call out for her parents or Liam or Katherine. That was her only option.

As she passed a large mausoleum, she froze when she heard the sound of a twig snap under something's foot. She chanced a glance over her shoulder, immediately turning around and taking off into a run when she could pick out a silhouette of a figure next to the large structure.

She didn't even know where she was running as she snaked around graves for more than a few minutes to the point where she was out of breath and shaking with effort. Her path eventually led her to a steep incline, and unfortunately, the terrain caused her to lose her footing, sending her tumbling headlong down the hill until she crashed into the trunk of a large tree.

She quickly - and panickedly - picked herself up, looking back the way she'd come, not hearing anything following her. She let out a sigh of relief, thinking she was out of the woods - no pun intended - when she walked right into someone, making her yelp in surprise.

"Bonnie?" She looked up, letting out a huge sigh of relief when she saw Jenny, Liam's ex-girlfriend, in front of her. She gestured in the direction she'd come, trying to catch her breath. "I-Were you following me?" She asked breathlessly, relieved that it was the brunette, even though she'd never particularly been fond of her. "I, uh, I saw you fall." Jenny said lamely, watching her with a confused frown on her face.

The blonde nodded before a similar look passed across her face. "What are you doing here?" She asked. This was the last place she ever expected to find the preppy wannabe it girl. "You just so happened to be hanging out in the cemetery?" Bonnie asked again, a bit icily, at a loss as to why her first question was apparently such a stumper... it wasn't supposed to be.

"I, uh... I came to visit Liam's grave." She said quietly. "Oh, wow... tactless. I'm sorry, it's the dark, it's kinda freaking me out, and then there were coyote howls and this crow and it was all very... Hitchcock for a second..." She said, frowning after realizing that Jenny would have no idea who Alfred Hitchcock was.

"So... what are you doing here? I thought the funeral was this morning." Bonnie knew that Jenny was changing the subject because she didn't want to admit that she didn't know what Bonnie was talking about. "Oh, uh, my parents and I wanted to come back by ourselves without the audience and everything." She held her breath, hoping that Jenny was dense enough to accept that terrible excuse easily and go on her way. The brunette eventually nodded before narrowing her eyes.

"Did you cut yourself or something?" For the first time, Bonnie realized that her shin was throbbing and felt sticky. She bent down and hiked up the leg of her jeans, shaking her head when she saw the rather large patch of blood caked there. She must've done it when she'd fallen down the hill. "Oh, that's not pretty!" She exclaimed awkwardly, wanting to get as far away from Jenny as possible and try and find her way home.

"But it smells pretty great." Bonnie froze as she picked up on the dangerous tone in Jenny's voice. Slowly, she looked up at her, eyes going wide as she saw her face - her demonic one. "Jenny?" She whispered quietly, immediately taking a few shaky steps backward out of both shock and fear. She watched as the brunette smirked evilly, her eyes glued to the small blonde's throat. In less than a second, Jenny had grabbed Bonnie by the arms in an iron-tight grip before she sank her fangs into the blonde's throat, smiling in satisfaction when Bonnie let out a blood curling scream.

* * *

Katherine picked her way through the east portion of the cemetery, weaving in between graves, sometimes stopping and reading the names on them. The town was fairly old, at least 200 years, so even though the death rate was relatively low, the graveyard was still pretty large. There had to be at least 500 graves with a few mausoleums thrown in here and there.

So far, she hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary - no empty, dug up graves, hell, the foreman wasn't even around at this hour. Who would think that someone in a quaint little town like their's would even contemplate exhuming a body, or even go so far as to be superstitious of vampires or demons... excluding Mr. Baker, that is. She didn't know how he'd known about vampires, but she had to admit, he had always seemed... off, and not just to her, to everyone. Not in a morbid, I'm-gonna-slaughter-everyone-in-town-while-they're-sleeping kind of way, but more that he was simply odd.

And, she would be willing to bet that the little scene today with she, Angel, and Mr. Baker, hadn't helped any. He'd seen her face, seen her fight, seen that vampire explode into dust when exposed to sunlight. After, he'd agreed to keep their secret and discourage anyone from town speculating about what had happened and what they'd seen, but the way he'd looked at Angel... more intense - and more frightened - than he usually did, made her suspect that he'd read about Angelus before, and had suspected something before. The incident just cemented anything he'd read as the truth.

And the fact that he'd told her to say hi to her mom for him. That was more than kinda hinky.

In the distance, she spotted a dusty grave with the ground around it clearly disturbed, like someone had clawed their way out of it. Curious, and slightly scared, she walked over to it and bent down, using her hand to wipe away the dust covering it... and she immediately wished she hadn't. She felt all of her breath leave her in a loud whoosh as she read the now revealed name on the gravemarker.

**_Jennifer Mason_**

**_Beloved Daughter_**

**_April 11, 2005 - December 17, 2022_**

When had that happened? She thought she'd -they'd - saved everyone in the school, teachers, students, and staff alike. Had one of the vamps managed to escape and had grabbed her while doing so? That thought grated at her more than she thought it could.

But that wasn't what was bothering her the most.

The grave itself was empty.

She had only just put two and two together when she heard the all too familiar scream of her little sister. "Bonnie." She whispered, horrified, as she took off in the direction that the sound had come from. "Bonnie!"

* * *

Katherine could've sworn her heart stopped as she came upon them, seeing Jen latched onto her little sister's throat, draining the life out of her. Even though Bonnie would come back if she was killed, Katherine wasn't about to let that happen. Her little sister would never end up like her, or any of them for that matter. She wouldn't allow it.

"Jenny!" She yelled, succeeding in getting her attention. The brunette drew away from the blonde's neck so she could look at her, and the image of her in her game face, smirking at her darkly, would haunt her for many nights to come. She might not have been too terribly fond of her, but she wouldn't in a million years have wished this on her.

The yellow eyes, the wrinkled features and pronounced cheekbones, the fangs... It was absolutely terrifying. It frightened her much more than any that she'd fought at the school that day. She held both of her hands up in front of her, trying to convey that she didn't want to hurt her. "Jenny, listen to me. I know you're confused, and probably overwhelmed, and-" She was cut off by a dark chuckle that sent chills down her spine. "Confused, overwhelmed?" She asked rhetorically, still holding Bonnie to her, the small blonde's blood coating her lips. "Katherine, I feel amazing!"

Bonnie whimpered in fear, trying to pull away, but Jenny held her firmly in place. "I know you think that, but look at what you're doing! You're about to kill Bonnie, whom you've known since we were in elementary school together!" She motioned to the blonde in Jenny's arms, her heart sinking when the girl looked back at her younger sister and shrugged. "I don't know about you, but all I see is food, and I'm hungry." She said bluntly. Katherine took a few steps towards them, her hands lowering back to hang at her sides. "I'm not gonna let you hurt her, Jenny."

"Then I guess we're going to have a problem." She shoved Bonnie backwards and flew at her, but Katherine was ready. She lithely dodged her, using the time the maneuver had bought her to search for her stake, cursing under her breath when she realized she must've dropped it somewhere. Jenny used Katherine's distracted state to her advantage and tackled her, sending them both sprawling on the grass.

Katherine delivered a punch to her face before turning to try and find Bonnie. "Bonnie! Bonnie, run!" She managed to kick Jenny off her, rolling to her feet as Jenny regained her footing also. Katherine glanced over at Bonnie, who hadn't run like she'd ordered, but instead was over by one of the trees, trying to break off a limb. Katherine practically growled at her stubborness. Jenny lashed out and kicked Katherine in the stomach, making her double over in pain before grabbing her and slamming her against the trunk of a tree with her hand around her throat.

"You know, I never liked you." She began squeezing her throat, cutting off her airway. "Hell, I don't even know why you were so popular." She lifted her off the ground, tightening her grip even more on the brunette's throat. "It should've been me! I should've been the captain of the squad. I should've been the most popular girl in school, but no! Instead, I was stuck living in your fucking shadow! I-" She cut off and growled in pain, letting go of Katherine as her hand went to claw at her back. "Little tip - save the speech for after you've already won, bitch."

Katherine could just see Bonnie standing behind Jenny, her hand on a decent sized stick that she'd driven into the vampire's back... but she'd missed the heart. More pissed off than anything else, Jenny backhanded her, sending her flying a few feet away before she reached behind her and pulled out the makeshift stake, tossing it away. She grasped the back of Katherine's neck, driving her forehead headlong into the trunk of the tree. Katherine's knees immediately buckled, sending her crashing to her knees, blinking back the immediate rush of blood that stung her eyes from the wound that the blow had caused. She watched helplessly as Jenny walked over and grabbed Bonnie, hoisted her up by her throat, and buried her fangs into her neck again, making Bonnie let out a blood curling scream.

Ignoring the intense burning sensation in both her throat, head, and lungs, Katherine managed to push herself up and stumble over and grab the tree branch that Jenny had discarded. Determined not to let Bonnie die and end up in the same boat as all of them, she ran over to them, Jenny being too focused on draining Bonnie dry to realize what was happening until Katherine had already driven the stick through her back, into her heart, and out of her chest, coated in Bonnie's borrowed blood.

Jenny looked down at the wood protruding from her chest in shock, immediately letting go of Bonnie, who collapsed on the ground again. Just then, Katherine heard the sound of three distinct footsteps slow to a stop in front of them just as Jenny disintegrated into a pile of ash. She looked up, seeing Liam and her parents standing a few yards away, a horrified look on her little brother's face. "Jenny!" He went to surge forward, but Angel quickly caught him, restraining him the best he could.

Katherine looked between the pile of ashes that used to be her brother's girlfriend and Liam as he struggled to break free of Angel's grip. "Jenny!" He yelled again as Buffy rushed over and helped Bonnie up, checking her over for any life threatening wounds, finding none, while Katherine's eyes turned down to the tree branch still in her hand, the majority of it dripping with blood. Realizing what she'd just done, she dropped it like it had burned her. She winced as she heard Liam scream Jenny's name again, this one the most gut-wrenching of them all, as Angel began dragging him away, doing his best to comfort him.

Killing the vamps and demons earlier that day hadn't affected her conscience in the slightest; they'd just been nameless monsters then that'd meant nothing to her. But killing Jenny was already beginning to eat at her, guilt welling up in her with startling force. This was a girl they'd all known since they were kids. They'd played on the playground together. In after school they'd even sometimes colored or drawn together, back when she hadn't yet been fixated on things of superficial value.

And she'd driven a stake through her heart without batting an eye.

It didn't matter that it hadn't really been her anymore; it'd still looked like the Jenny she knew... well, had known. The fact that it'd been a demon wearing her skin didn't change the fact that she'd driven a stake through the body's heart.

Shaking her head, banishing the thoughts away to dwell on and probably torture herself with later, she turned around to her little sister angrily. "Bonnie, what the hell?!" She yelled, her emotions - fear, anger, and guilt - all mingling together, threatening to overwhelm her, all three on overdrive. She took in the blood, now partially dried, plastered on the tan column of Bonnie's throat before her gaze shifted to the already blooming black and blue bruise on her right cheek.

"Do you realize how stupid that was, I mean, you could've been killed! You could've died and-" Buffy cut her off by holding a hand up. "I'll deal with this, sweetie." She said calmly before gesturing in the direction that Angel and Liam had gone. "Go home... let me be the mom. You were kinda beginning to steal my thunder there..." She trailed off, offering her a soft smile before helping support her look-alike who was weak due to blood loss. At Katherine's unconvinced face, Buffy again gestured in the direction of their home. "Go, I'll take care of this. Besides, you might wanna wash that blood off... It's a bitch to get out of clothes, believe me. You wouldn't want it to ruin that shirt."

Katherine stood there for a few more seconds before nodding reluctantly and doing as she was told. Both blondes watched her go before Buffy urged Bonnie forward slowly. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, young lady." Bonnie groaned weakly as they began to follow the rest of the family.

* * *

"You don't hate me, right?" Katherine asked her dark bay, practically black, filly as she brushed her. Like she could understand her - and for some reason, she'd come to believe that she could - Ben shook her head, making Katherine smile minutely. She reached up and stroked her nose, which was a lighter brown than the rest of her coat, before patting her on the back in thanks. "Knew you'd understand." She mumbled, reaching up and hugging her neck.

When she let go, she turned to look at the other five horses, posing the same question. All five horses shook their heads, much like Ben had, making her smile.

"Katherine." She sighed, having known that her dad had been walking to the barn ever since he'd left the house. She'd heard every step he'd taken on the way there.

She studiously avoided looking him in the eye, moving to brush Ben's tail so that she could braid it later. "I'm fine, Dad." She said insistently, her face remaining stoic. She didn't want to talk about it. She knew exactly what he was doing, but she wasn't even remotely ready to delve into what she was feeling.

After several long moments of uncomfortable silence, she finally gave in and turned to look at him, becoming even more unsettled at his expectant look. "Really?" She nodded, quite convincingly... to someone who didn't know her. "Really." She affirmed, placing the brush down and beginning to plait Ben's tail. She resisted the urge to fidget as he continued to watch her silently until she finally caved.

"Okay, maybe I'm not fine, maybe I do have certain... feelings about what happened, but I really, really don't wanna talk about it." She watched as he walked further into the barn, right up to her horse's stall, leaning on the door that separated them. "You did the right thing." He said simply, and she felt all of her emotions well up in her again. She didn't know why she was acting the way she was, which at this point was borderline broody. She'd done the right thing, probably saving quite a few people in the process... but it still didn't feel like it had been the right choice.

She nodded, admitting defeat. He always knew how to get her to talk about things, testifying to the close bond they shared.

"I know I did. In the grand scheme of things, I know I made the right call." She said quietly. "I just... why does it feel like I made the wrong choice?" She finished braiding Ben's tail, simply taking a few steps forward so that she could stroke her head. "Katherine, it wasn't Jennifer. You know that." She sighed heavily, nodding in agreement. "I know it wasn't, but it looked like her. It was still her body - her heart - that I drove a stake through. The same body who used to play on the playground with me when we were little, that I've known for almost as long as I can remember. I guess that's what's been bothering me - seeing the monster she'd become and then having to take her life to stop her from hurting Bonnie, or anyone else, and I'm having trouble differentiating the demon from the girl I knew."

She was silent for more than a few moments, thinking everything over. Was this how it'd been like for her mom, for him? Had he ever had to kill someone that he'd known personally before they became a monster? Was this what her life was going to be like?

"Is it always like this?" She asked, wanting to know if this was how things were going to be from now on. Angel unlocked the door and stepped inside the stall with her, running a hand through her dark curls lovingly, nodding. "There will always be evil, honey, and that's never going to change. I remember telling your mom one time that we never win, at least, not completely." She sighed heavily, leaning her head against her filly's muscular neck. "Then why do we even fight? If we never can win, then why do we even try? What's the point?"

"We don't fight to win, that's not the point. We do it because there are things worth fighting for. For me, that's you, Elena, Liam, Bonnie, and your mom. I don't think you realize how much of a gift you all were to me, and I'd die before I'd let that be taken away. I know that I'm not a part of that - your - world anymore, but the same things apply. I do what I do at the Bureau to keep people safe, to keep you all safe." She smirked softly. "And because you have a major hero complex?" Angel chuckled before drawing her into a hug.

"If there's one thing I've learned in almost 300 years, it's that there will always be consequences for the choices we make - good or bad. That's just the way life works. There's ups and downs... we all experience life in sometimes cruel and unusual ways, but it's how you react to them that matters. It defines who you are as a person. It shows what you stand for, and I have a pretty good feeling that you know more about your values and morals than you think you do now. You just have to figure them out, and I'll help in any way I can, okay?" She nodded, hugging him back as she burrowed into the warmth of his chest, letting the sound of his heartbeat wash over her.

"You've told us everything, right?" She asked against his chest, elaborating when she sensed that he didn't exactly catch her meaning. "I mean, there aren't anymore secrets? I know everything I need to know about our family, right? There isn't anything that you're hiding?" Connor's face flashed through Angel's mind before he shook his head. She wasn't ready to know about him yet - none of them were. "You know everything you need to know." He lied, holding her just a tad bit tighter.


	4. Lies My Parents Told Me

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, sadly.**

**A/N: First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone that's reviewed. You guys are awesome! :) I was really scared that no one would like it, so for people to tell me that they enjoy reading it makes me really happy (like you seriously have no idea). I want to thank my awesome beta and long time, real life bff pantote-cairete for continually encouraging me and not being afraid to tell me what I need to fix. Someone asked me if I write request fanfics and honestly, I never have, and I don't know if I'd even be good at it or not. The only two stories (well, technically three if you count my abandoned, unposted THG one) I've ever written have been completely of my own imagination, and this is the first one I've been confident in. I actually deleted the Smallville one I abadoned back when I was fourteen (almost five years ago) because it was literally so god awful lol. But anyways, I might if I was given a prompt or idea that I could work with, but otherwise I highly doubt it simply because I don't think I could do it justice. I also apologize for taking so long to write this chapter. The first half of this practically wrote itself in a matter of days and then I got a severe case of writer's block and the last 3k words or so gave me serious issues. The next chapter is where the story really gets rolling and all of the characters finally reunite/meet and an antagonist of sorts shakes things up. Anyways, rant over. Hope you guys like this chapter and please review! **

**ps: There are semi flashback scenes from AtS 3x09 and 3x10 in this chapter, and though I really, really never liked Darla, Katherine doesn't share my dislike... even though I did feel sorry for her in 3x09 of Angel, I mean, who wouldn't?**

* * *

_There was a time, I used to look into my father's eyes_

_In a happy home, I was a king I had a golden throne_

_But those days are gone, now the memories are on the wall_

_I hear the songs from places where I was born_

_Upon across a blue lake_

_That's where I had my first heartbreak_

_I still remember how it all changed_

_My father said_

_Don't you worry, don't you worry, child_

_See heaven's got a plan for you_

_Don't you worry, don't you worry now_

_Don't You Worry Child/ Madilyn Bailey (Swedish House Mafia Cover)_

* * *

**_4\. Lies My Parents Told Me_**

"_Katherine?" _

She sighed, opening another box in the attic. "I'm coming, Mom. Give me a sec." She ascertained that the large cardboard box in front of her was Liam's baby stuff and scooted over to the opening, ready to step down the ladder of the attic when Liam's head popped up, nearly scaring her half to death. After he had a laugh at her expense, she rolled her eyes and shoved the box at him, which he took and descended the ladder again, taking it to the living room.

It had officially been a week since the incident on the bridge, and after Angel had revealed to her they were moving, they'd informed Liam, Elena, and Bonnie of their plans, which had resulted in the past two days comprised simply of packing. They'd rented a huge moving van for their things - mostly clothes and sentimental items because they were keeping the house as a place to come back and visit if the need arose - which Spike and Lorne had offered to man.

They had also prepared their large horse trailer to transport the horses because they couldn't - and wouldn't - leave them behind and Buffy had assured that a barn could be built on the substantial amount of land the school was situated on. The entire family - including Giles - was going to ride in Angel's SUV, which would tow the trailer.

Things with she and Giles hadn't gotten much better, and even though she felt bad for ignoring him like she had the past couple of days, she was still angry - seething, even. Liam and Elena hadn't been offered a choice, and though she hadn't really had one either, she was pissed at him for taking that away from them.

She took another look at the multitude of boxes stacked before her, debating on which one to pick to carry down, when she spotted a small one wedged in the back corner, like it was trying to remain hidden.

Curious, she crawled over and extracted it from it's hiding place and opened it, immediately frowning in confusion when she pulled out a picture of Angel - a much younger version of her father, from before she was born - and a young man in his early twenties with hair somewhere in between brunette and blonde, though leaning more towards brunette, and blue eyes, dressed in a black graduation robe with a sash that signified he had graduated at a high rank in his class.

Her dad looked so happy - proud, even. It was almost in a fatherly type manner, like when Angel had heard that she was already far ahead in the run for valedictorian for her class, even though she was only a sophomore.

She'd taken so many high-level AP and IB classes in her first year and a half alone that her classmates had no hope of catching up to her. The closest person to her was Elena, but she still had her by a landslide. She'd have to flunk out of every single class the remainder of her high school run in order to lose it.

When Angel had heard that for the first time, the look on his face was startlingly similar to the one in the picture.

Extremely intrigued at this point, she placed the picture back in the box, knowing that she couldn't sort through it in it's entirety here, and slowly inched to the opening trap door of the attic. Poking her head down, not seeing anyone but hearing voices coming from the living room, she carefully and quietly grabbed the box and descended the ladder, checking one more time to make sure the coast was clear before ducking into her room.

She cracked her door before immediately walking over to her window and opening it, placing the box on the roof and then joining it. Casting one last glance back into her room, she quickly shuffled over to the large tree that was planted conveniently outside her window and climbed down easily with the box securely tucked under one arm. She'd snuck out to go see Ben enough nights to be able to pull off the task with ease.

Once she was on the ground, she immediately employed her preternatural speed to propel her away from the house, across the pasture, and to her favorite spot on the entire property.

* * *

After hauling herself up to a generous height - about three quarters of the way up - she settled herself on a thick, sturdy branch that was well hidden by the dense leaves of the tree, she placed the box on a level branch before opening the lid again, taking out the picture once more and studying it before gently setting it aside and digging deeper into the contents of the box.

Next, she pulled out a framed college diploma - from Stanford no less - stating the boy's name, which was Connor Reilly, and dated 2006, a little more than a year before both she and Elena had been born, months before they'd even been conceived. She weighed it in her hands for a moment before placing it down with the picture.

She pulled out a baby blanket - strangely neither worn nor well-used. It appeared almost virtually new. Why would a baby blanket of all things be in a box with college aged memorabilia? Instead of placing it with the picture and framed diploma, she spread it out on her lap, fingering the soft fabric for a few moments before turning her attention back to the box.

Reaching in, she pulled out another picture - this one at a wedding - and she stared at it with wide eyes. There, in the picture with the man she guessed was Connor, was her Aunt Dawn, whom she had only met a mere handful of times when she was little, dressed in a white, flowing gown. Connor was dressed in a tux and they were dancing - probably their first dance, and in the background of the picture, she could just see her parents smiling proudly at the couple.

Even more confused than she already had been before, she placed it with the others as she pulled out yet another framed piece - this one a birth certificate, dating November 19, 2001, nearly six years before she was born, and five before her parents had tied the knot. The name on it was "Connor Angel", and under it detailed statistics like weight and length. The name for the mother was left blank and the father's was "Geraldo Angel".

She studied the certificate, at a complete and total loss as to why her father had these things. None of it made sense and she couldn't put the pieces together, no matter how hard she tried. It was one of those "round pieces not fitting in a square hole" scenarios. Nothing fit. Connor Reilly. Connor Angel. Stanford. Dawn Summers. November 19, 2001. 2006. The blanket.

The second to last thing in the box was a teddy bear, and, like the blanket, appeared and felt unused. She hugged it to her, breathing in it's scent, trying to see if she recognized it at all, frowning when all she smelled was the slight scent of dust. She tried the blanket next and wound up with the same result.

Finally, she took out a journal that had to at least look as old as she was. She placed it in her lap, feeling compelled to read it after she'd figured out more about the other items that had been in the box, but couldn't come up with anything that even remotely made sense.

Frustrated, she placed all of the other items back into the box and closed it, biting her lip as she stared at it for several long moments. She was just about to climb down and march into the house to demand answers - wanting to devote a substantial amount of time to the journal later - when a blinding pain ignited in the back of her skull, dragging her into unconsciousness.

* * *

She came to lying on a cold rooftop in the midst of a large city. She could hear the hustle and bustle of footsteps and cars. She sat up and looked around confusedly. How had she gotten here? The last thing she remembered, she was sitting in her tree going through the contents of the box and now she was in a city?

She stood up, realizing almost immediately that she wasn't alone. Over by the railing, looking over the city, sat a woman with short blonde hair that reached just past her shoulders. From what she could tell, the woman was almost as short as her own mother.

"You always did love a view."

She whirled, seeing a much younger version of her father standing before her, watching the blonde woman with sympathy. "Dad?" She asked, not garnering a reaction from either of them. She looked between the two confusedly, wondering why they couldn't see her. What even was this? A memory? A vision? She couldn't tell.

"Look at it. Listen to it. Can you smell it? This world. This horrible world. Why would anyone want to bring a baby into it?" The blonde woman asked defeatedly, still looking out over the city. She watched as her father shifted uncomfortably. "To make it better, maybe?" He suggested weakly, softly. "Or to destroy it, finally," she said matter-of-factly, turning around so that Katherine could see her face. The small brunette took in her haggard appearance and the hands that came down to cradle her heavily pregnant stomach.

"Why is it everyone insists on planning my son's future before he's even born?" He asked, making her head whip back to him so fast, that it was almost painful. Her eyes widened as they went back and forth between her father and the pregnant woman. Son? He had a son before Liam?

Son.

_Son. _

_**SON.**_

She had another brother. No doubt an older brother, and he hadn't even had the decency to tell her - or any of them, for that matter - about him.

She was partially shell shocked but still had the piece of mind to follow the two as they walked across the roof. "Alright then, how's this? It doesn't have a future. Not with me." The woman said flatly. "Darla..." He trailed off, making Katherine wrack her brain for the name. She knew she'd heard it before.

When it hit her, she actually gasped and a hand came up to cover her mouth. Darla as in her father's _sire_, Darla. She was a vampire but... how was that even possible? With her parents she could understand somewhat... anatomically speaking, but two vampires? It shouldn't even be a possibility.

"Angel, I can't have this baby," she said almost panickedly, continuing to walk at a brisk pace across the large rooftop. Katherine almost had to run to keep up with the apparitions. Gone was the shock, now all that was left was curiosity. And hurt. And a keen, powerful feeling of betrayal, but she pushed all of her conflicting emotions aside for the time being, simply wanting to focus and gain as much knowledge of her previously unknown sibling as possible.

"What?" She could feel the nervousness coming off Angel in waves. "I can't let it out. I-I can't," she stuttered. She watched as her father pushed down his other emotions and focused on being rational. "Okay, I'm not sure you have a lot of choice in the matter-" She cut him off. "Look, I know. It wants to come out. I can feel it. It's ready. It's just - I can't let it. I can't let because..." She trailed off, and even Katherine could tell why she was reluctant to give birth to him. Because she, a soulless vampire...

"You love it."

She loved it, and she was scared of what was going to happen after she gave birth. Katherine could see it in her eyes and she felt a wave of sympathy rush over her for the small blonde vampire who had basically damned her own father to eternity on a whim. He always had told her that she felt more powerfully than anyone else he'd ever known, and had said it surpassed even that of her mother.

She could feel sympathy in even the most damning of situations for someone, and he'd even gone as far to voice that he believed she wasn't even capable of hate, and so far, he was right. She didn't think she could hate. It wasn't in her, and no matter what Darla had done to Angel in the past, Katherine couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Completely. I love it completely. I-I-I don't think I've ever loved anything as much as this life that's inside of me," Darla admitted, turning around and walking away from him a little ways, still holding her pregnant stomach in her hands.

"Well - you've never _loved _anything, Darla," he stressed the word, and she knew he was right. From what he'd told her about his sire, she never really had cared about anything, not even him. Not until now, apparently. "That's true. Four hundred years and I never did -till now - I don't know what to do," she admitted ruefully before turning around to face him.

"Well, you-you'll do the only thing that you can do: you'll have it. You'll have it and then-" She cut him off almost angrily. "What? We'll raise it?" She brushed past him roughly, leaving him at a loss. "Why not?" Up until now, Katherine hadn't known just how much of a good, pure, righteous person he was. He had just basically offered to raise a child with a woman who didn't love him and certainly didn't give much of a damn about him. She was almost mad that Darla turned him down without a second thought.

"It's impossible."

"This whole thing is impossible, Darla, but it's happening," he shot back, trying to reason with her. "What do I have to offer a child, a _human _child, besides ugly death?" She asked honestly, and like it or not, for her brother's sake - the one that was a mere few feet away from her in his mother's womb, a woman who wasn't even her own mother - she agreed. Darla couldn't raise the baby because she was soulless. Obviously something was affecting her actions, and the brunette had a pretty good idea exactly what that was.

"Darla..."

"You know it's true."

"No. What I do know is that you love this baby, _our baby_. You've bonded with it. You've spent nine months carrying it, nourishing it..." Though it pained her to hear her father say "our baby" to someone else besides her mother, she knew he was grasping desperately for straws. "No. No, I haven't been nourishing it. I haven't given this baby a thing. I'm dead. It's been nourishing me. These feelings that I'm having, they're not mine. They're coming from it."

"You don't know that."

"Of course I do! We both do. Angel, I don't have a soul. It does. And right now that soul is inside of me, but soon, it won't be and then..."

"Darla..."

"I won't be able to love it. I won't even be able to remember that I loved it," she said tearfully. Katherine felt her heart breaking for the not so inherently evil vampire in front of her. "I want to remember." She watched as Angel pulled Darla into a hug in an attempt to soothe her before everything faded to black again.

* * *

She immediately had to blink the rainwater out of her eyes as she stood - already drenched to the bone - in a dimly lit alley. She looked around, squinting, brushing her hair out of her face as it tried to cling to her cheeks. What was she going to see next? How did she even know if her brother was still alive? Was that why Angel had never told any of them? Had Darla lost the baby before it was even born? She was both scared and eager to find out.

She whirled when she heard the sound of someone pounding on what sounded like wood, and she turned just in time to see said wooden barrier give way. Five figures - one she recognized as Lorne - poured out of the opening, trying to escape the flames that were consuming the inside of the building, before Angel walked out, half carrying Darla.

The other five huddled together in a group, watching as Angel tried to help a weakened Darla over to them. "No. No, go on. I can't. It doesn't matter anyway," she groaned softly, struggling, despite Angel's support.

"I'm not leaving you, alright? Easy. Alright," he soothed before digging in his pocket for his car keys. "Go get my car, it's out front." He tossed them in the group's general direction just before he lowered Darla to the cold, wet pavement. "I got you," he whispered, just loud enough for Katherine to hear.

She watched as one member of the group, a brunette woman with short hair, reached down towards Darla, immediately reeling back when Angel practically reprimanded her for it. "Go!" The others turned to leave, but one, a slender woman with long hair, paused before returning to Angel's side.

"Fred, go with them." Katherine walked forward until she kneeling on the ground alongside her father, watching the entire scene play out. "It's okay. They'll come back for us," she argued, shaking like a leaf, which was somewhat rectified when Angel noticed and gave her his leather jacket.

"You're gonna be okay," he said, trying to reassure Darla for what was no doubt the thousandth time. "No. No, I don't think so. Once he's gone, I won't be okay. I won't be okay at all... I don't know what I'll be. Angel... Our baby is gonna die right here in this alley." Katherine could feel the despair pouring off both of them in waves. She shook her head subconsciously. This couldn't be how it had ended. Her brother couldn't die right here in this alley.

"You died in an alley, remember?" She said quietly, and Katherine felt Angel stiffen considerably as he met Darla's eyes. "I remember."

"I wanna say I'm sorry. I wanna say it and mean it, but... I can't. Aren't you gonna tell me it's okay?" She asked softly, one hand still caressing her belly. Angel even surprised Katherine when his eyes hardened in determination, or, at least, what she thought was determination. "No," he said simply.

Darla smiled ruefully. "No? It's really not, is it? We did so many terrible things together. So much destruction, so much," she winced, "...pain. We can't make up for any of it. You know that, don't you?" She whispered almost sarcastically. After a few beats of silence, Katherine heard her father answer with a quiet "yeah".

"This child... Angel, it's the one good thing we ever did together." Katherine actually had to blink back tears and look away as she heard Angel's breath hitch before he kissed the back of Darla's hands. "The only good thing," she repeated as he laid his forehead on he and his sire's joined hands, taking a sobbing breath that made Katherine's heart feel like it was lodged in her throat.

Katherine was the only one who noticed Darla glance to the side, and she followed her gaze, her breath catching when she saw a large sliver of wood just in arms reach. Darla wasn't going to do what she thought she was going to do, was she? Even though she loved the baby, Katherine didn't think Darla was capable of such a sacrifice until she saw the determination in the blonde's eyes.

"You make sure to tell him that," she said right before she grabbed the makeshift stake and plunged it into her heart. Katherine, along with Angel and Fred, watched with wide eyes as she disintegrated into a pile of ash which immediately washed away due to the torrential downpour.

Katherine let out a relieved sob as she saw a perfect little baby boy sprawled out on the concrete in the rain, crying shrilly, but alive. Her eyes turned to her father as he stared at the infant in wonder and the moment stretched on and on until Katherine wished she could scream at him to pick her brother up and get him warm.

After what seemed like an eternity, he picked the baby up and enveloped him in the jacket that Fred returned to him, just as a man carrying a crossbow emerged from the flames behind them, his eyes trained on Angel. Katherine stood up, wishing she could place herself between them.

When Fred and her father finally noticed him, the two men simply stared at each other. Neither moving a muscle. The man's eyes flicked from Angel to the crying bundle in his arms and back again before she stepped between them out of instinct.

To her shock, the man's eyes shifted up to her's, not in her general direction or in a coincidental spot, but he stared right into her eyes like he could see her, and she realized that he could.

Though she felt immensely confused, she held her ground, not giving him an inch or relaying that she was surprised he could see her. She saw a strange spark of recognition light in his eyes followed by slight fear as he regarded her. So great was his shock and fear - though he didn't show much of it - that it got him to lower his crossbow, allowing Angel, Fred, and the baby safe passage to Angel's care.

She watched them go, tempted to follow, when she felt herself being pulled back into the darkness again.

* * *

The next thing she knew, she was in some sort of makeshift nursery, watching as her father tried to placate her brother with a familiar looking stuffed bear. "Teddy isn't crying. Do you see Teddy cry? Teddy isn't crying. Do you see Teddy crying? No, Teddy isn't crying." She watched him sigh heavily for a moment, burying his face in the stuffed animal, near defeat. "Come on, kid, you gotta give me something here." She walked closer until she was kneeling next to Angel beside the crib.

"Alright. Last ditch effort." He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before he began to sing quietly. "_Toora-loora-loora, toora-loora-lay..."_ She smiled softly at the sight. She'd forgotten how natural he'd been with Bonnie - and most likely just like he'd been with the rest of them, though she was far too young to remember. Even after being a vampire for over a hundred years and having no knowledge or practice with kids - babies especially - he still was doing a fairly good job.

She turned her head when Lorne walked in and came over to stand at Angel's other side, looking over his shoulder. _"Toora-loora-loora, that's an Irish lullaby..." _He broke off in defeat, laying his head on the crib as the baby continued to cry.

"Here, let me give it a try," Lorne offered. "_Ooh, ooh, baby, baby. Ooh, ooh, baby, baby. Mistakes I know I made a few, but I'm only human. You'll make mistakes, too. And I'm crying..."_ He cut off as the baby's cries only got louder. Katherine winced before laying her head on the side of the crib with a moan, much like her father had.

"He doesn't like Smokey Robinson and the Miracles? I thought you said this kid had a soul." Lorne quipped as Angel leaned over the crib, looking down at his son. "You know what, you're fed, you're changed. I hold you, you cry. I put you down, you cry. What do you want me to do here?" He asked rhetorically, letting out a frustrated sigh as his son kept crying. "I'm a terrible father." He leaned down and picked the baby up, making Katherine stand so she could get a closer look at her brother.

"Yeah, well, it's getting a little tense - your vibe, that is," Lorne clarified, watching as Angel continued to cradle the baby in his arms. "My vibe? What vibe?" He asked.

"Oh, just the incredibly anxious one that's been coming of you in waves ever since he was born. He's deeply connected to you. If you're wound this tight, how do you think he's gonna feel?" Katherine agreed with Lorne. If Angel's posture wasn't enough to give away how stressed he was, then the anxious energy that was pouring off him in waves said enough.

"Hey, he's not even a day old and he's got an enemies list. How would you feel? Wouldn't you be a little edgy?"

"Yeah. I'd also be in awe. Look at him." Both Angel and Katherine looked down at the child in the vampire's arms, the later smiling softly, even as her brother continued to scream. "He's more than a mission, bro. _Look_ at him. Look at him." Then Lorne walked out of the room, leaving Angel - and Katherine - to keep staring at the tiny infant in his arms.

Katherine watched as a small smile tugged up the corner of his mouth, much like one he would give her, Elena, Liam, and Bonnie whenever he was proud of or slightly amused by them. He sat in a chair, placing the baby in his lap. "It's alright. It's gonna be alright. It's gonna be alright," he soothed.

Katherine frowned when the baby continued to cry. "Hey. Shh."

When that didn't work, Angel began to make a myriad of silly faces - all which made Katherine laugh - but to no avail.

He sighed heavily. "Okay. I only got one more in me." He then allowed his face to change, and even though Katherine had never seen - or at least remembered seeing - his vampire face, it didn't frighten her like it had earlier that week at the high school. Vampire face or not, it was still her dad. She almost didn't notice. She certainly didn't care.

Apparently, it was a family thing, because when the baby saw Angel's face, he immediately quieted and his eyes began to close. The smile on her father's face made her smile widely.

"Yeah, that's my little guy! You like that, don't you? A bootchee-wootchee..." Angel's voice trailed off as everything went black again.

* * *

"I'm happy to report that you have a healthy baby boy." Katherine watched as two doctors - one with her brother and the other with a clipboard - brought the baby out, directing the congratulations to the brunette with the short brown hair that she remembered from the alley. "Oh, great. But I'm not the mother," she said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized before turning to Fred. "I'm happy to report that you have a healthy baby boy."

"Oh. Me neither," Fred said. The brunette man who stood between the two jumped in to explain. "I'm afraid the mother is, ah, no longer in the picture," he said evasively, being just cryptic enough to where the nurses would accept the answer at face value and not ask any further question.

The doctor with the clipboard flipping through it, reading his charts. "I see. Well, his height and weight are in the ninety percentile. We gave him his vitamin K and his PKU and he's doing very well. We don't seem to have his - what's his name?" The nurse asked, and the three shared a look before Katherine heard Angel enter into the waiting room.

"Connor... His name is Connor."

Katherine's eyebrows rose in disbelief as she looked between the baby and her father - who was grinning happily. The pieces of the puzzle beginning to finally come together. No longer were they round pegs trying to fit into square holes. Now the pegs resembled squares and she was starting to piece two and two together.

"Connor. Thank you, Mr. Angel. And congratulations." Both smiled at the group before walking away.

Katherine could just make out Angel asking about the name they'd given him and Fred telling him his first name was "Geraldo" before she was pulled from the scene once again.

She woke up on a large but simple bed in a smaller bedroom. She pushed herself into a sitting position, looking around the room in confusion. Where was she now? Off to the side of the room was a pair of floor to ceiling glass french doors that led to a small terrace.

She stood up and walked over to them, opening the doors and stepping out onto the balcony that overlooked a rather large city.

Looking out into the distance, she could just make out... wait, was that the Roman Colosseum? Stunned, she looked to the side, wanting to make sure she was where she thought she was by picking out different landmarks. She took a deep breath when she recognized the walls of Vatican City, looking exactly like it had in her text books. Why the hell was she in Italy?

She turned to look back into the bedroom when she heard the sound of a door slam. When she saw a familiar petite blonde enter the room, she immediately walked in and closed the doors, cocking her head in confusion when her father came in shortly afterwards.

They both looked extremely angry, Buffy more so than Angel though. His expression held a bit more desperation in it, while her mother's radiated only righteous anger.

It wasn't until she turned to look back at him that Katherine could clearly see a prominent baby bump that was immediately cradled protectively in her mother's hands.

"How could you ask me to do that?!" Katherine could see angry tears well in Buffy's eyes, something akin to betrayal rolling off her in waves. "You heard what Fred said, Buffy! If you go through with this, there's a really, really good chance that it'll kill you." In response, Buffy took Angel's hands in her's and brought it to her stomach.

"This is _everything_ that we've ever wanted, it's one of the things you wanted for me, one of the reasons you left me, the _one thing_ we thought that we could never have, and now you're telling me that you don't want it?!" Katherine watched as Angel continued to stare at his and Buffy's hands resting on her stomach, eyes glistening with unshed tears as well.

"Not if it costs you your life," he said softly.

"Angel, we have a chance to start a family together, I don't care about the risks. I want this, and I know that deep down, you do too. And I know what Fred said - how it might be impossible for me to carry them to term, about how my body might try to terminate the pregnancy itself because of me being a slayer, how giving birth to them could kill me - but the thing is, I don't care!"

"Buffy-" She cut him off.

"No, Angel! I can't do it. I can't give them up - not now. Not after I've spent the past few weeks over the freaking moon happy, just like you were before we went to visit Fred. We're going to have twins, Angel. Two beyond perfect little girls that are going to be half you and half me. Little girls that you can dote on and learn to do their hair in the mornings before school-"

"Buffy-"

"I've seen it - a perfect life, our perfect life - and for once, it's actually within reach. I love them already... and I won't do that to them... you're just going to have to accept that," she said firmly, drawing away from him. "I'm not going to kill them before they have the chance to live. They deserve better than that."

She brushed by him and exited the room, and only seconds later the door to the apartment slammed again.

Katherine watched with tears in her eyes as Angel wearily walked over to a chair in the corner of the room and sank down in it, picking up a journal off of the small side table adjacent to it.

It was only after he began writing in it that she realized it was the same journal as the one in the box.

* * *

She came to with a start, almost falling off the branch she was perched on as she finally came back to reality. She struggled to catch her breath as she tried to sort through the information she'd just been given. She had a brother, whom she'd never met or even known of before, and her father - her own father - had wanted to...

She felt a singular tear slide down her cheek, unable to finish the thought. He hadn't even wanted her or Elena.

She felt even more betrayed after that revelation than she had after learning about having another brother. He would've rather had a baby with a woman he didn't love than the only woman that he ever had claimed to love.

Feeling righteous anger swell up in her with startling force, she slammed the lid back on the box that contained all of Connor's - her older brother's - things, before taking it and the journal in her hands. She jumped down from the tree and began storming back towards the house at human speed.

She prayed that whatever she'd seen hadn't been true or real - just dreams conjured up by her imagination - but she knew they were.

Hopping over the fence to the pasture, she braced herself for the confrontation that was about to take place. There wouldn't be any screaming or crying or any displays of hurt - she'd simply ask him to confirm it and then she'd go up to her room, and anything after that was still up in the air.

But she knew better than anyone that she was lying to herself.

* * *

"Did you two know that you have a little songbird amongst your flock?" Lorne asked as he set a box aside and began labeling another.

"What?" Buffy asked, pausing as she went to tape her box closed.

"Katherine. She's got quite the set of pipes on her," Spike said as he came into the room with a coffee mug full of hot chocolate. "Like, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera caliber quality," Lorne said as he set another box to the side. "I really can't wait to get her in the studio in Cleveland and see if she can write as well as she sings, cause if she can..." He shook his head and chuckled. "I'm getting shivers just thinking about it."

"No idea how," Spike quipped before taking a sip from his mug. Really, how she'd gotten a voice like _that,_ he had no idea.

"Yeah, sometimes we hear her singing in her room when you guys aren't home," Liam said as he, Elena, and Bonnie all walked down the stairs carrying more boxes. "Really..." Giles said simply, recalling how she would sometimes steal his guitar on his visits and try to teach herself to play a few chords, but he hadn't thought much of it, chalking it up to pure curiosity.

The other O'Connor children had just entered the living room and sat down when the back door opened and Katherine walked in, slamming it behind her. "Hey, where have you been, we've-" Angel asked, stopping when she interrupted him.

"Please, please tell me that you didn't do what I think you did," she cut him off angrily, trying to hold herself together long enough to get answers. She didn't want to cry in front of all of them - wouldn't let herself. She just wanted the answers that she deserved, that _all four of them_ deserved, and she was going to get them, hell or high water.

"What are you-" He stopped abruptly when she stormed forward and placed the box containing Connor's things on the coffee table in front of him with enough force to shake it. She knew it was true the second he realized which box she'd put in front of him. She could tell by the look of guilt on his face.

Knowing what was coming, Giles, Lorne, and Spike all excused themselves as Katherine stared at him accusingly.

"Kat, what's going on?" Bonnie asked as she and their other two siblings looked back and forth between their oldest sister and their father.

"How could you?!" She said, mentally wincing at how her voice had shaken, even if it had been barely noticeable. "Sweetie, you have to under-"

"No! How could you keep this from us?! How could you outright lie to us - to me - for our entire lives?!" She said, trying mightily not to let her eyes water.

She couldn't help but sniffle when Liam stood up and grasped her arms, turning her to face him. She clutched the fabric of his shirt in her hands tightly as she worked up the courage to tell them what she'd only just found out.

"We have an older brother."

"Half brother," she heard Angel say defensively, as if that made it any better, and she shook her head. "Doesn't matter, and more importantly, _I don't care_," she shot back forcefully.

She immediately felt Liam's hands slip from her arms and she let him go as she took in the look of shock on his face that soon turned to hurt as he turned to look at Angel. Bonnie and Elena's expressions mirrored his as they stilled and turned to look at him too.

When she felt a singular tear slide down her cheek, she went to brush it away angrily, not noticing that Angel had stood up and was reaching out for her when his hand barely brushed her wrist. She flinched away like she'd been burned. "No, don't touch me!" She yelled as she quickly retreated a few steps, putting a significant amount of distance between them.

Just a few nights ago he'd promised her that there wasn't anything that she didn't know about their family... and he'd lied straight to her face. The only thing that was worse was that she had believed him wholeheartedly. She couldn't believe she'd been so naive.

"You wanna know what's worse?" She said, tears streaming down her cheeks freely now as she held up the journal that she'd found in the box - the same one she'd seen him write in after his argument with Buffy over wanting to abort she and Elena. She swallowed thickly at the look in his eyes as he saw it.

"This," she said, flipping through it until she found a page where he mentioned the incident and his thoughts about it before handing it to Elena. "Read that," she said, pointing to where it clearly stated what she'd found out - in his own words. She could tell as soon as Elena had finished, her eyes widening as she froze and sent Angel a look full of hurt and betrayal that she knew mirrored her own.

When Angel moved towards her, she shot up from the couch and backed away much like Katherine had only moments before, journal still in hand. "You wanted Mom to abort us?" She asked as tears began to cascade down her cheeks.

"Yeah, I did," he said honestly. "Because we found out that there was a really good chance that she wouldn't survive giving birth, and she almost didn't," he continued, trying to reason with both of them and get them to see his side of things. Suggesting that to Buffy had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done.

Katherine watched as both Bonnie and Liam silently left the room, both holding back tears as they climbed the stairs, retreating to their bedrooms. She turned back just in time to see Buffy stand and walk over to Elena, but her twin maintained her distance, backing up so she was even closer to Katherine.

"He did it because he didn't want to lose me, and even though I disagreed, I understood where he was coming from." If anything, Buffy defending Angel's choice because she could understand only made it ten times worse.

Elena's face contorted in pain before she threw the journal at Angel with as much force as she could muster. A second before it would've hit him in the face, he ducked, instead sending it crashing into the china cabinet, shattering the glass and all the expensive plates, even going as far as breaking through the wood and creating a decent sized dent in the sheet rock of the wall behind it.

Katherine should've been surprised at her twin's sudden violent reaction of anger, but truthfully she wasn't. Even though Elena had never been a violent person, with her emotions heightened everything was up in the air now. When they were angry - or, at least she knew that when she and Elena were angry - they were like ticking time bombs. When they were angry, especially coupled with a sense of self-righteousness and/or betrayal, they were enraged and extremely unpredictable. They weren't even sure what they were feeling until they'd already lashed out in some way, shape, or form. They acted impulsively, but that was one thing that hadn't changed about any of them. They'd always been that way, now it was just more intense.

Katherine's eyes practically burned a hole in Angel as Elena let out a sob before her hand came up to cover her mouth in an attempt to retain some of her dignity. Without another word, she passed Katherine and practically ran up the stairs, the sound of her door slamming and the slight click the lock made as she turned it prevalent in the silence that had enveloped the room, leaving Katherine and Angel staring at each other.

Angel was the first to break the stalemate as he took a few steps forward, but she backed away. Unlike before, he didn't stop until he was holding her clenched fists in his hands between their chests. She struggled against his hold halfheartedly as he tried to explain himself.

"Hey, listen to me. I never wante-" He was cut off abruptly when Katherine ripped both of her hands out of his and delivered a solid slap to his cheek, making his head whip to the side.

She wasn't even the slightest bit remorseful as she backed away again, holding up a hand when he moved towards her yet again after recovering from the blow. "Katherine, please."

She shook her head unconsciously. "No. I don't have it in me to hear any more lies from you," she spat before she grabbed her necklace, ripped it off, and threw it to the hardwood floor, already feeling like a part of her was missing after taking it off.

Ignoring the sensation, she whirled and raced up the stairs, wanting to get to her room before she broke down.

* * *

Angel and Buffy listened as Katherine opened the door to her room and then slammed it with enough force to shake the entire house.

"You two need to be more careful," Spike said as he, Giles, and Lorne all re-entered the room, having heard the entire argument from the kitchen. Angel simply sat down and put his head in his hands as Buffy wrapped her arms around her middle. "Why?"

He sighed, walking over and sinking down into one of the plush chairs. "The heightened emotions can be a really, really bad thing. You know how everyone has their breaking point, right? You can only push someone so far before they snap," he said seriously, getting Angel to lift his head from his hands and meet his eyes. "Yeah, and?"

"When they reach a certain point, the heightened emotions become more than just an inconvenience... It becomes a curse. When they snap..." He trailed off, trying to find the right words. "They... it's almost like they have a switch that they can flip."

"As some sort of coping mechanism?" Giles asked as he took a seat in the chair besides him, watching as he nodded in affirmation.

"A switch? For what?" Buffy asked as she sat down next to Angel on the couch. Spike was quiet for a few moments before he looked down at his hands.

"Humanity. _Their_ humanity. When things get too much to handle, when one of them reaches their breaking point, they can subconsciously make the decision that they don't want to feel anything."

"Less of a coping mechanism and more like an act of self preservation," Giles ascertained and Spike nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly before continuing. "They don't want to feel so they shut it all off completely. Every emotion known to man is gone - especially remorse. Their conscience flies the proverbial coop basically."

"Wait, how do you-" Buffy immediately stopped when the answer hit her. "Damon's done it before, hasn't he?"

"When he was new, yeah," Spike swallowed thickly, "he... he had trouble controlling his bloodlust, but he was able to control himself, until he happened upon a large group of teenagers - some of them his friends - and couldn't keep himself in check. He slaughtered them before he even knew what had happened. Twenty bodies that resembled kibbles 'n bits were there when I caught up to him, body parts strewn about in what I haven't seen since my soulless days. He was covered in blood from head to toe and shaking - crying for the first time in a long time."

Spike looked down at his hands again, the images flashing through his mind with startling clarity, even though it'd been almost three years before. "I tried to talk him off the ledge but no matter what I said, he still was practically suicidal. He kept saying that he was a monster and just babbling on and on... and then, all of the sudden, he was just silent. His eyes and face were just blank. There was nothing there aside from the fresh tears."

"And what happened after he pulled the 'ol switcheroo?" Lorne asked.

Spike looked at Buffy and Angel, honesty seeping from every pore. "All hell broke loose," he said before plowing on. "He went on a rampage - killing because he liked it and he claimed he didn't care about anything. The police back home still think there's a serial killer on the loose, and honestly, I don't know if he's turned his humanity back on again or not. If he has, he's still pretending he doesn't care. I would imagine that after all he's done, he just thinks it's easier that way."

* * *

As soon as she had locked her bedroom door, she turned and leaned back against it, not fully trusting her legs to hold her up. She felt the first of a long line of tears fall down her cheek as she stood there, frozen, her breathing beginning to slowly become erratic as a silent, barely contained sob burst forth from her throat as it all began to sink in.

Her parents - both of them, because she knew that her Mom had known as well - hadn't even had the decency to tell any of them that they had another sibling, something they had a right to. She didn't care about the details, which they obviously couldn't have told them, but they could've at least let them know the truth about having another brother.

But, to make matters even more worse, the vision that she'd had about her parents in Rome was the real kicker. She could forgive them both for keeping Connor from them, given enough time. The knowledge that Angel hadn't even wanted she and Elena had cut deeper than any knife or sword ever could.

All of the things he'd told her, all of the emotions he'd shown towards her over the course of her life - love and pride being the most prevalent - had all been lies. He didn't love her. How could he when he hadn't even wanted her to begin with?

It had really hit home, however, when Buffy had even sided with him during the argument, even going as far as to admit that if the roles had been reversed, she wouldn't have reacted much differently. It didn't matter that she had made the decision to keep them. Her defending Angel's choice was as much of a betrayal as his.

Her own father hadn't wanted her, and her mother had basically just confirmed that she felt the same, and why would they? She was a freak of nature, something that shouldn't even have been remotely possible. She was part monster - part demon - and she could possibly turn into one. Was that the real reason why he hadn't wanted them? Because he thought they would be abominations?

And what about Giles? Since she'd become this... this _thing,_ he hadn't even tried to speak to her. Had he advised her mother to have an abortion too? And what about their friends? Fred? She must have, based on how angry Buffy had been in the vision. Had anyone wanted them at all? Her parents must not have known about Damon, probably hadn't have been in touch with Spike and Faith at that time, so her uncle hadn't been there to try and dissuade them.

No one had wanted her, and why would they? She was a _vile_, _disgusting_, and at her core an _inherently evil_, thing.

A monster.

As her sobs became verbal, she felt her whole body begin to shake uncontrollably. Her legs finally gave out and she slid to the ground with one hand clutched in front of her stomach like she was trying to physically hold herself together.

For a brief moment, she tried to lie to herself by thinking that all evidence, everything she'd ever known, pointed against it, but she didn't know what to believe anymore or who she could trust.

That revelation brought on another round of sobs that culminated in her covering her face with her hands as she drowned in her feelings of helplessness and betrayal.

* * *

Hours later, after night had fallen, she laid in bed, completely under her covers, clutching Mr. Gordo to her chest tightly, still shaking even though her eyes had dried up long before as she listened to the tumultuous thunderstorm raging outside her window. She couldn't cry because she'd literally cried until her body had been incapable of producing any more tears, but the weather mirrored what she felt on the inside.

Her dad had tried many times to try to convince her to let him in, and when that hadn't worked, had even gone as far as apologizing through her door. Instead of it easing her mind, his words only cut deeper. She didn't want his faux apologies and certainly didn't need them. She just wanted to be left alone.

And she knew she wasn't going to get it holed up in her room. Eventually, he'd get tired of her ignoring him and he'd find a way in. She didn't want to think about what would happen if it came to that.

She stood up, walking over to her mirror and studying her face, taking in the dried tear tracked and bloodshot eyed face that stared back at her. Without warning, she felt anger well up in her. How dare he reduce her to this? How dare he lie right to her face - betray her - and then try to come off and act like the loving father she'd thought him to be?

For a split second, as a powerful surge of vindictiveness washed through her, she imagined her standing over his corpse with his still, bloody heart in her palm, having given him what he deserved.

As soon as she realized what she'd thought, she looked down and brushed both of her hands back through her hair in shock. Her gaze moved to her hand - the very one that she'd imagined his heart in - as it slowly fell back to her side, still paralyzed, horrified at where her mind had led her. She looked back at her face in the mirror and saw for the first time what she'd instinctively known from the beginning.

She saw the monster inside herself - the devil beneath her own skin - and that scared her more than anything else had in her entire life.

She watched as her eyes widened slightly in realization as for the first time she knew that she was capable of evil, even though she had a soul and was still in full possession of her humanity.

It was then that she knew she couldn't keep watching herself anymore, couldn't stomach being in her room - this house - for one more moment. She was a danger to everyone in it and after envisioning killing her own father, she didn't trust herself in the slightest.

Decision made, she walked straight to her window and unlatched it, immediately feeling her eyes water as the wind blew in with startling force. She pushed herself out onto the roof, immediately having to brush her hair out of her face as it began sticking to her skin, only reminding her of Connor's birth, which strengthened her resolve even more.

She jumped off the roof, landing lithely and silently on her feet as she immediately took of in a run, already soaked thoroughly. She didn't know where she was going, but she did know that it was far, far away from the place that she used to call home.

* * *

"Katherine?" Angel asked as he knocked on her door for about the twentieth time that night, ignoring how his cheek still throbbed, even though it'd been a few hours since she'd slapped him. The blow had been strong enough that he would be surprised if it hadn't left a bruise.

He sighed when she remained silent, fingering the locket he'd given her in his other hand. Now more than ever he regretted not telling them about Connor, even though he knew that if he had before the accident it would've raised too many questions, and all four of them were too perceptive - and curious for that matter - for him to lie about any of the details and get away with it.

They'd want to know why he was so much older than them and how he was only a handful of years younger than himself. Honestly, he wouldn't even have known how to field that one, and he obviously couldn't have told them the truth.

But, that wasn't an issue now, and hadn't been for a week. He still hadn't thought they were ready to know about Connor, but that was a big mistake - they were ready, and if he hadn't lied to Katherine's face, he was sure that she wouldn't have been angry about it in the slightest. His dishonesty had only made things worse.

And to top it all off, she'd found out the one thing that he and Buffy had sworn never mention again. He still remembered the fear of losing her - and Katherine and Elena as the pregnancy had worn on - clearly, especially when all three of them had almost died during the delivery, and that fear had flared up again when they discovered that Buffy was pregnant with Liam, and then a third time with Bonnie's pregnancy, but both had gone smoother than the first, thankfully.

After they were born, he remembered being so over the moon happy that he'd honestly pushed that fight to the back of his mind, gratefully that Buffy had fought him on it. If she'd have listened to him or everyone else who'd been telling her the exact same thing, they wouldn't have achieved the life that they'd always dreamed of but never thought possible.

"Honey, open up," he said again, rapping his knuckles against the wooden door a few times, still being met with silence, and he felt worry gnawing at him for the thousandth time in the past couple of hours.

After Spike telling them about Damon turning off his humanity, he didn't know what the feelings of betrayal - or, god forbid, even her going as far as to convince herself that he hadn't wanted her to begin with - would do to her.

She'd always felt her emotions more intensely than anyone else he'd ever known - including Buffy - but she'd also inherited his propensity to bury them so no one would worry about her. He didn't know if it was because she was fiercely protective of her siblings - if anything, the accident had proven that - or if she wanted to be perceived as a strong individual, or even a combination of both, but it worried him regardless.

With her heightened emotions there was no telling the magnitude of what she was feeling, and coupled with her tendency to repress them, they could result in catastrophic consequences.

Spike had been right when he'd said that everyone had their breaking point, and he was worried just how far she could be pushed and how much she could repress things before it all became too overwhelming. He imagined the end result would be far from pretty, and there was no telling of how she would lash out without a conscience if that ever happened.

He certainly was keen on never finding out.

Sighing at her still resolute silence, he dug in his pocket and pulled out his lock pick. He hated having to break into her room, but they needed to talk about what had happened, and he wasn't going to take no for an answer any longer.

It only took him a few seconds to unlock the door and then he was inside, flicking the light on when he didn't immediately see her, his eyes widening as he took in the unmade, abandoned bed and the open window on the other side of her room.

"Katherine?" He asked loudly as he walked further into the room, checking the bathroom and her closet just to make sure he hadn't missed her before he exited the room with one last glance to the window, an unsettling feeling washing over him.

Next, he walked around the hallway that was situated around the staircase, it being the centerpiece of the entire second floor, and knocked on Liam, Bonnie, and Elena's bedroom doors.

They all poked their heads out almost simultaneously, all bleary-eyed from sleep. He'd made sure to reconcile with them all before they went to bed in between his numerous failed attempts with Katherine, and though they were all still angry with him, they'd heard him out and had forgiven him, so there wasn't any bad blood circulating around, at least at the moment, excluding Katherine of course.

"Is Katherine with any of you guys?" He asked, checking to make sure that he'd missed her sneaking out of her room, hoping that was the case. They all shook their heads.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Bonnie asked, easily seeing the dread spread across his features.

He managed to plaster a fake, reassuring smile across his face as he shook his head. "Nothing, everything's fine. You guys should get back to bed."

He waited until they had all retreated to their rooms before he quickly turned and descended the stairs, walking into the living room where Buffy and Giles were. Spike and Lorne had already gone to bed in the guest bedroom that they had been sharing for the past couple of days.

"Katherine's not in her room." Buffy and Giles both shared worried looks.

"Did you check if she was with Elena, Liam, or Bonnie?"

Angel nodded. "She's not there either and her bedroom window was wide open." He quickly grabbed one of his jackets from the coat rack by the door and put it on. "I'll go find her. Just stay here and make sure the kids don't find out. I don't want them to worry." Buffy sat back down, nodding reluctantly.

"You're right, besides, after what happened a few days ago, we know that Spike and Lorne and babysitting don't mesh well... like, at all," she said as she agitatedly ran a hand through her blonde hair. Giles, on the other hand, acted as if he hadn't heard Angel at all as he had already pulled on his coat as well.

He held up a hand when Angel went to argue with him. "Angel, I have something I must apologize to her for as well. This stalemate between us has gone on long enough, and quite frankly it is exhausting and frustrating that she has brushed me off and refused to speak to me at all. She has obviously been waiting for an apology that I have failed to give her, and I need to rectify that."

* * *

She stood in the pouring rain, staring at where she should've been laid to rest in the cemetery, where she belonged. She'd died, and she should be buried in the ground six feet under less than a foot from where she was standing. But she wasn't. She was caught in limbo, eternally stuck halfway between life and death, and she didn't know what to do.

She sank to her knees in the mud, simply ingraining the sight of her grave marker into her memory, ignoring how her jeans immediately absorbed all of the water and mud underneath her knees.

**_Katherine Elizabeth O'Connor_**

**_June 21, 2007 - December 13, 2022_**

**_Beloved Daughter and Devoted Sister_**

That was it. That was all she'd accomplished in her life. A mere 15 years, being a good daughter to her parents, and being a good sister. That was all she had to show for - no great accomplishments, nothing fantastic, nothing truly worthwhile. She'd wasted her life and she hadn't even stopped to comprehend what she'd lost until it was already gone.

She'd never achieve her aspirations for swimming, which she'd secretly been pushing herself towards since she'd first become serious about the sport.

She'd never go to college, never even get accepted to Stanford like her brother. She'd never even have a boyfriend or have a first kiss or anything else that came along with that. She'd never fall in love, never agree to marry someone, never have Angel walk her down the aisle... She'd never become a mother, never get to raise children of her own.

She'd never even get to die of old age surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She'd forever be stuck - not at 15, because Spike had told them that he'd seen Damon age since he'd been turned, and Fred had apparently hypothesized that once they reached maturity around their mid-twenties, they wouldn't age a day more - and things could and would never go back to the way they were before that night on the bridge.

Her thoughts tonight were proof that the old Katherine had died when she'd went off that bridge with her siblings, just like she should have. In her place was a new, different, even darker version of herself that scared her beyond belief. It'd only been a week and she was already turning into someone that she didn't want to be.

Part of her almost wished that she hadn't made the choice to save Angel that night. She would've died none the wiser, unaware of the monster inside herself. But now it was too late - she'd seen the stranger looking back in the mirror and she hated what she saw.

Was this how her father had felt after his soul had been restored? She could only imagine the emotional agony that he'd endured. She'd never even killed a person and he'd basically been one of the most successful serial killers of all time. To suddenly come back to yourself and realize that you'd caused that much damage and destruction in your wake was almost too much for her to even comprehend.

She could never allow herself to sink to that level, and she swore to herself that no matter what happened, she would fight her nature until it killed her. She would never kill a single human being - whether it be for food or in defense. She couldn't be what others who couldn't understand thought that she was.

She reached out her hand and touched the stone, studying it for a few moments more before pushing herself to her feet and slowly shuffling out of the cemetery, uncertain of where her feet were going to take her next.

* * *

"Why on earth would she choose to trek through a torrential downpour, through the muck, just to wander into the cemetery?" Giles asked as he followed Angel as he led the way, weaving in and out of grave markers and mausoleums as they went.

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Angel said as he finally came to a stop in front of a particular tombstone. Giles had to squint through the rain in order to see the name engraved, but understanding washed over him when he read it.

**_Katherine Elizabeth O'Connor_**

**_June 21, 2007 - December 13, 2022_**

**_Beloved Daughter and Devoted Sister_**

"Do you think she sought closure of some sort?"

Angel shook his head. "No, more like she was saying goodbye."

"To herself?" Giles asked dubiously. "To who she used to be," Angel corrected. "She probably thinks that she's becoming an entirely different person, and she's not wrong. She's becoming a better version of herself. Everything that made her who she was as a human - her drive, her tenacity, her protectiveness, her strong sense of morality - has been heightened and it will only make her a stronger, more capable slayer and leader because of it." Angel squatted down and touched the headstone much like Katherine had.

"If she is in the process of morphing into a better version of herself, then why say goodbye to who she used to be?"

"Katherine becoming a better version of herself is mine and Buffy's belief. I never said that she viewed it in the same light." He stood up and turned to face the man he considered to be his father-in-law. Hank had never cared enough about Buffy - or Dawn, for that matter - to have earned that title. He hadn't even had a decency to show up for either of his daughters' weddings, much less give a damn about Katherine, Elena, Liam, Bonnie, or Connor and Dawn's daughter, Celeste.

"So, she believes that her transformation has had a negative result?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

* * *

She sloshed through heavy puddles as she crossed the street, arms crossed protectively across her chest, the hood on her sweatshirt pulled up over her head so no one would recognize her - even though no one in their right mind was out at this hour - heading towards the church that Angel and Buffy had taken them to regularly as kids.

They hadn't been recently because things had become too hectic around the house with either Angel or Buffy away working on Sundays, and truthfully, she hadn't realized how much she'd missed it until now. It was yet another slice of her normal life that she didn't have the luxury of enjoying anymore.

She walked into the parking lot, unconsciously flinching away from the large cross displayed alongside the marquee as she passed it. She couldn't even look at it. Just being within 10 yards of it made the hair on her arms stand up and an unsettling burning sensation settled in the pit of her stomach, like it could scald her with just a mere glance, and she didn't doubt it could.

Cautiously, making sure that there weren't any cars in the parking lot - signalling that the building was vacant, which, on a Friday night wasn't uncommon in the slightest - she walked up to the glass doors and opened one, not even bothering to flick the lights on as she continued through the foyer until she had entered the sanctuary, again flinching when she laid eyes on yet another cross that stood a little ways beyond the podium on the other side of the large space.

Ignoring her instincts telling her - practically screaming at her - to turn tail and run, to get away from a place that she clearly didn't belong in anymore, she slowly began walking past the pews. As she continued on, she studied the intricate, beautifully designed stain glass window before her, remembering how she'd marveled in childlike wonder when she was little at the myriad of colors it would cast on the congregation during Sunday morning services - something she would never see again.

Finally reaching the end of the aisle, she sank down to her knees and simply stared at her hands - hands that had pushed several vampires to their deaths via the sun, that had snapped a neck without a second thought. Hands that had driven a stake into the heart of a girl that she'd known almost her entire life.

Hands that she'd imagined thrusting into her own father's chest, tearing his heart out.

At this point, she wasn't even sure if God wanted her.

She felt tears beginning to form in her eyes, and before the first had finished it's descent down her cheek, she'd buried her face in her hands in an attempt muffle her cries.

* * *

"Why would she come to a church of all places, especially considering her current... condition?"

Angel sighed. He wished Giles wasn't trying to be so politically correct. "You can say it, Giles. Vampire. It is what it is. She's a vampire... and a witch, and a slayer..." He trailed off before turning to look at him. "I had no idea that being multiple supernatural beings was even possible," he said as an after thought.

Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them. "Under normal circumstances, I would agree that it is impossible to be more than one at once, but she's an exception, and so is Elena and Liam. I would imagine that since they are only half vampire, the human portion of them is free to take on any supernatural manifestation it desires."

"The slayer part I can understand, but the question I'm asking is why a witch?"

"Well, were any of your ancestors magically gifted?" Angel shook his head. "Not that I know of." Typically, magical abilities were passed down to a witch - or the occasional warlock - through his or her bloodline, and he had no idea if any of his ancestors possessed the gift, not that he knew much about his family tree past his parents.

They both sat in comfortable silence, both contemplating why Katherine had come to the church in the first place. Angel could only imagine how her senses and instincts had rebelled to her even being in a place where it knew it didn't belong, not anymore. But he knew that she was having trouble letting go of how things used to be, and this place held many good memories for her.

As a human, Angel had never been religious. He'd been raised Catholic, but he'd never really lived as such. Buffy never had either.

When they moved to the small southern town, it simply felt right to give their children some sort of foundation, both morally and spiritually. That hadn't come until after Angel's shanshu, but once that had happened and he was free to partake in everything that had been forbidden for the past two and a half centuries, and he welcomed the normalcy.

Based on what he had hypothesized earlier about not being wanted, he hoped that she hadn't drawn the conclusion that God didn't want her either, but he knew it was an easy leap to make, considering how holy objects repelled her.

He just hoped that conclusion wouldn't make things even worse.

* * *

She sat on the ledge of the clock tower that was situated on the top of the city court house, looking over the small town that she'd grown up in.

If circumstances were different, she'd be reluctant to leave the place that had always been her home, but they weren't. She knew that the move was necessary and that there was no use in fighting it.

A part of her wanted to mull over the what if's and fantasize what could have been, but the much larger, rational part of herself knew it would be fruitless to even try and imagine any of it. What was done was done and in the past. Nothing and no one could change it. She couldn't change it, no matter how much she wanted to.

She pulled her sopping wet hoodie up over her head and then laid it out bedside her on the ledge in an attempt to let it dry, leaving her in a simple tank top and her mud stained jeans. She pulled her wet, messy, heavy curls up into a bun at her crown before drawing her knees up to her chest and leaning her chin on them.

She sighed before closing her eyes and listening to the rain as it continued to fall outside the safety of her hiding place.

It'd been wrong of her to get angry at her father for something that had happened before she was even born. She hated to admit it, but she understood why he had wanted her mom to get an abortion. He simply had been terrified of losing her and she couldn't fault him for that. He'd probably lost many people over the course of his existence, so it made sense.

She knew she hadn't wanted to do it, though. She'd seen it in his eyes when he and her mother had been arguing about it. It had been painful for him to even suggest, and she could've sworn she'd caught just a glimmer of relief in his eyes as Buffy had told him that her mind couldn't be changed. He'd wanted her and Elena just as much as Buffy had, and even though others had advised her otherwise, she knew that they'd wanted for Buffy and Angel to finally have a chance at being happy together, and she couldn't fault any of them for simply trying to save her life.

She realized that they had nothing to be sorry for, and it was so long ago that all of them had probably chosen to forgive and forget that it had ever happened, and she should do the same. She didn't deserve her father's forgiveness because there was nothing to forgive, and neither did her grandfather.

He'd done what he'd done out of love, not to slight her in any way, and she couldn't fault him for that either.

It was then that she heard two distinct pairs of footsteps clambering up the marble staircase in the otherwise empty building, and a few seconds later, the door leading up to her current hideaway opened.

She turned her head to the side slightly, just enough to where she could see the figures of her father and grandfather in her periphery.

"I'm fine," she said calmly, a stark contrast to her emotional display earlier, before Angel or Giles could say anything. "I-I thought things over... well, I actually thought about a lot of things over the past couple of hours and I guess the only thing I can really tell you both is that I'm sorry."

She turned, holding up a hand when both went to argue. She didn't want to hear them try and convince her that they were to blame, because she knew they weren't. She was the one who had overreacted and stirred the pot back at the house, not them. She didn't blame Giles and she didn't blame Angel. It was that simple.

There wasn't any need for either of them to try to manipulate her into thinking that she was the victim in this, because she wasn't, plain and simple.

"I overreacted to both situations, well, technically all three, and I just wanted to apologize and tell you that I understand why you both did what you did." She stood and walked over to stand in front of Giles.

"You completed Liam and Elena's transitions because you wanted them to survive, and if I hadn't have been so damn confused and overwhelmed at the time, I probably would have made the exact same decision. I know now that you fed them your blood because you love them and didn't want to lose them. How can I blame you for that?" She asked rhetorically before stepping closer and wrapping her arms around him.

After a few moments of stunned silence from him, he returned the hug, relieved that their week-long stint of silence was over. He pressed a kiss to her crown, causing her to smile slightly. She was happy that they were putting their disagreement behind them. She'd missed him dearly over the past week and she was glad that their relationship would now return to the way it had been before the accident.

She didn't know how long it was before she pulled away from his embrace and turned to Angel guiltily. "Dad, I... I'm sorry that I got angry with you for keeping Connor a secret. None of us were ready to know about him, and I know why you kept him from us. We wouldn't have been able to understand and that would've just raised more questions..." She trailed off, realizing that she had begun to ramble.

"And with the whole other thing... I had no reason to get so angry at you for wanting to save Mom's life." She said, wincing as she took in the blooming blue and black bruise on his cheek. It wasn't very large or distinctly prominent, but if you knew it was there it was extremely noticeable.

"Katherine, you had every right to-"

"No, Dad. I didn't. Please don't try and stand there and argue with me. Let me take the blame and then we can all go back home and finally get some much, much needed sleep," she pleaded. She really, really didn't want to hear him apologize to her. It would only make her feel even more guilty.

He wanted to argue that it was his fault and that he had been in the wrong, but the look in her eyes made him bite back whatever apologies his mind had conjured up. If this was what she wanted, then he would simply go with it. He didn't want to stir the pot any more than he already had and risk anything else happening.

"Okay," he said softly before accepting the hug that she'd given him. After pulling away, he dug her necklace out of his pocket and offered it to her. It was then that he realized that he was already referring to it as her's, even though he'd thought of it as his sister's ever since her death.

Without a word, she turned around and allowed him to fasten it around her neck once more, smiling unconsciously as she instantly felt a thousand times better as the cold silver immediately began warming against her skin.

As she fingered her locket, Angel walked over and retrieved her hoodie. She smiled in thanks when he offered to carry it back to the house.

"Let's go home," he said quietly. She leaned into his side as they began their long trek back home, the three comfortably falling back into easy conversation.


	5. The Night of The Comet

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own anything**

**A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter took so long for me to write. My dad was in the hospital for two weeks and things at my house have just started to get back to being normal again. I had most of this chapter written before life at my house got super crazy, but I had a ton of trouble staying focused after that. My bff and beta, pantote-careite, came home from college for spring break and helped me run errands and stuff while my mom was with my dad, and of course, one thing led to another, and we ended up marathoning Chris Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy in a day at my house, which, of course, resulted in me getting the idea to write a BatCat (Bruce Wayne/Batman &amp; Selina Kyle/Catwoman) fic kinda like this one (obv I have a thing for future fics) post The Dark Knight Rises. I mean, they have a daughter in the comics (who ends up being pretty kick ass herself), why not put my own spin on it?... Nearly four 10k+ word chapters later, I've decided that I'm going to finish writing it, even if I never end up posting it. If anyone would like to read it, let me know? Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**ps: The story/metaphor that Buffy tells Katherine is from One Tree Hill**

* * *

_And if you have a minute why don't we go_

_Talk about it somewhere only we know_

_This could be the end of everything_

_So why don't we go_

_Somewhere only we know_

_Somewhere only we know_

_Somewhere Only We Know / Keane_

* * *

She scowled up at the dark, foreboding night sky as it continued to relentlessly pelt her with cold rain, drenching her to the bone. Her hand came up to haphazardly brush a soaked strand of her curly brown hair that hung down in front of her face angrily, blinking rapidly in an attempt to rid her eyes of the precipitation that clung heavily to her eyelashes, obscuring her vision.

She'd lived in Cleveland for all of two weeks and had only been officially patrolling the streets for about one. She'd patrolled a few times back in Bremen, before they'd moved, but this past week had proved a whole new challenge in its own.

For one, the nights here were unbearably cold, despite her being more tolerant to temperatures due to her vampiric genes. She hated it. So much so, that she'd even take Georgia's bipolar weather, where one day it could be sunny and beautiful, and the next it could be rainy and near freezing, over it.

At least Georgia had temperate weather. To her, Cleveland seemed as though it would be cold 24/7 and, being the daughter of a valley girl and a southerner in her own right, she happened to love the sun as much as her mother.

Squinting as she tried to look down a dark, abandoned alleyway, she absently massaged her wrist when it began throbbing. Earlier that night, she'd come across a fledge that had given her more than a little trouble, ending with her on the ground, covered in soggy vamp ashes and a mildly sprained wrist.

The past two weeks had been rough. Not only had the whole family moved to a completely different state, but it had been in the middle of the school year, between semesters. And to make matters worse, all of the people her parents had told her she'd meet, all of their past teammates whom they considered family, had been conveniently absent, which both Buffy and Angel had chalked up to being coincidental. They told them that they'd meet them any day now.

Her parents had bought a new house in a quaint, quiet suburb of the city for them to stay in whenever they weren't actually in school during breaks or the summer, or maybe even the weekends. The house offered them a little safe haven away from everything where they could still carry on and pretend that they were a normal family.

When school was in session, they each had their own separate dorm rooms that they'd each already decorated to their liking inside the walls of the school building.

The school itself was exponentially massive. The structure's design made it appear like it belonged in the English, Scottish, or Irish countryside, resembling a massive castle, set in the hills about 10 miles west of Cleveland, on about 6,000 acres or so of private property.

The area surrounding the compound was mostly woods, save for some wide open grassy plains directly behind it - where a barn was currently being constructed for the horses - which led to the southern shore of Lake Erie in the distance. The view was spectacular, especially from her dorm room. The first day she'd been in her room, she'd spent half of her time sitting at her bay window staring out at it's beauty.

The inside of the castle was just as large as the outside. On the first day she'd tried to explore as much of it as she could, along with Liam, Elena, and Bonnie, spending hours wandering around in endless circles before Buffy and Angel had finally found them and pointed them in the right direction as she'd vehemently sworn to herself that she'd memorize the layout of the structure while it was still empty - the slayers already enrolled in the school would be home with their families for the next few weeks or so, leaving only the ones in the group to guard the Hellmouth.

Deciding that she was tired, and seeing that it was nearly midnight and she had a lot to do tomorrow, she decided that she'd check out this last alley, and then she'd make the long trek back to the house, climb into the shower and warm up before either climbing into bed or getting her dad to get a fire going in the hearth of the living room fireplace. Both seemed like a pretty good plan.

Sighing heavily, she made her way down the alley, ever vigilant of her surroundings... at least, she thought so. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice penetrated the otherwise rain-filled quiet of the space.

"You know, it's not safe for a girl as pretty as you to be out in this part of the city at night." She whirled, the owner of the voice standing a few feet off to the side, just past where the rain ceased to fall due to the overhang of the building he was leaning against. Because of the heavy downpour, she could barely make out his features.

"Come on. You need to get out of this storm, you're going to catch a nasty cold." At her wary look, he laughed. "I promise, I don't bite!" He held his hands up in a mock surrender. Surmising that she'd rather take on him than the rain if it came down to it, she found herself jogging over to find refuge with the stranger.

Finally out from under the punishing fall of the rain, she turned in order to see the man more clearly, and what she found made her breath catch and heart stutter for a moment. The man, well, more like teenage boy a few years older than her, was gorgeous. He was tall, with jet black hair that sat haphazardly on his head and a pair of the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. She found herself fighting not to get lost in them.

His skin was like the pale alabaster that one would normally find sculptures of greek gods made from and his jawline was to die for, highlighted by his dark, nearly black, five o'clock shadow. He was completely dry, clad in dark jeans that hugged his slim waist and thighs deliciously, a t-shirt that clung to his broad, muscled chest, and a leather jacket that encapsulated his wide shoulders.

When she realized that she was staring, she reluctantly shook herself out of her drool-worthy stupor. "Not to be rude or anything, but it's kinda creepy that you're out here in the middle of nowhere," she told him.

No guy had ever made her feel like this before. There was a distinct warmth that had spread from the base of her spine the very second that she'd truly seen him. Her skin felt like it was a live wire. She ached to just reach out and touch him, caress his face, kiss his lips, become enveloped in his strong arms... Skin to skin wouldn't suffice. She felt as though her entire world had refocused, shifted, until he became the center of her existence, and that thought unsettled her way more than she could even admit.

He smiled at her, the corner of his mouth pulling up in such a way that it made her breath catch for a second. "You're one to talk. You're out here all by yourself..." he said, trailing off. His voice, now unobstructed by the rain, caused her heart to hammer in her chest. With a start, she realized that he was fishing for a name.

"I'm Katherine," she offered, swallowing past the lump in her throat.

"So, Katherine," she swore she felt herself flush as he said her name so perfectly, "what brings you to the bad part of town, in the middle of the night, during a monsoon?" He asked, causing her to smirk in response.

"I could ask you the same question." She wasn't sure, but she could've sworn she heard him suck in an unsteady breath with her vampire hearing when she had flirted back with him.

"Oh, but I asked you first," he said in the same charming tone as before, making her think that she was merely imagining things and her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Is that so," she murmured and he nodded. She obviously couldn't tell the truth... but she could stretch it... a ton. "I was just thinking." He laughed.

"What thoughts could possibly compel you to wander out in this weather at this hour?" She grimaced, immediately regretting the lie that she was about to spin. "I got into a fight with my boyfriend."

"About what, may I ask?" he asked, raising his hands in mild defense. She smirked, trying to hide her bluff.

"Life, the future. He's got it all mapped out." He cocked his head.

"And you, what? Don't want it?"

"I don't know what I want," she shrugged, the truth soaking into her reply, making her more believable.

He studied her for a short period. "I bet I do," he said playfully. She smiled genuinely in response. "Really?" she asked, bemused. He nodded. She mocked sighed.

"So, tell me. What is it that I want?" He pushed away from the wall and took a few steps toward her as he spoke. "You want what everybody wants," he said, and she cocked her head playfully.

"What? A mysterious stranger who has all the answers?"

"You want a love that consumes you. You want passion. And adventure. And maybe even a little bit of danger." He came to a stop directly in front of her, their eyes locking and holding for several long moments.

"An-and what do you want?" she barely managed to choke out. He looked perplexed by her question. "Well..." he trailed off. A particularly strong gust of wind blew by and she shivered, diverting his attention from her question. He quickly shrugged off his leather jacket and draped it around her shoulders, the instant warmth the garment provided causing her to sigh in contentment.

"You should get home." She nodded dumbly, still staring at him for a second before shaking her head to clear her thoughts. She made a move to remove the jacket, but he stopped her. "Keep it." She looked at him in shock, ready to protest.

"It looks better on you anyways," he offered her a charming smile as he backed away, not turning around until he had to. She watched him until he was out of sight, her heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears. "Oh boy," she muttered to herself.

She fingered the leather of the collar before bringing it up to her nose and inhaling his scent. She sighed, releasing the material and beginning to head for home, consuming thoughts of the dark, devilishly handsome stranger filling her head.

* * *

Katherine snuck into the white, Colonial-styled house quietly, wincing when the door creaked slightly when she closed it. She silently prayed that her dad wasn't waiting up for her like he had a few nights ago. She didn't want him to see the handsome stranger's leather jacket and start asking questions that she _so_ did not want to answer.

She was just tiptoeing by the living room when a voice, thankfully feminine, penetrated the silence, making her wince all the same.

"Rough night?" She turned to see her mom sitting on the couch with a book in her lap and her reading glasses on, illuminated by the light of the fire in the fireplace. Katherine laughed quietly, trying to act nonchalant. Granted, she would be more comfortable talking to her mom about the guy she'd met that night, who wouldn't, but she still would be scared that she'd be mad at her.

"You could say that," she said as she brushed a tangled, matted curl behind her ear, or, at least tried to. Her hair wasn't being very cooperative at the moment.

Buffy shot her a pointed, somewhat amused look as she closed the book and removed her glass. "How about you go get out of those wet clothes and then come back down and I'll help you try to tame that cat on your head?"

Biting back the snarky retort that rose in her throat, she shot her a look before sneaking up to her room that made Buffy chuckle.

A few minutes later, she came downstairs dressed in a tank top and pajama shorts, carrying her wet clothes to go put in the dryer, and a brush so her mom could at least try and tame her mane of unruly curls.

After she'd started her clothes and taken a seat on the floor next to the fireplace, she handed Buffy the brush and stared into the flames as her mother began to try to unknot the rat's nest that had formerly been her hair.

Her thoughts returned to the guy she'd met earlier. He'd made her feel things that she'd never in a million years thought she could or even would feel. It made her wonder how her mom had felt when she met her dad.

"Mom? How did you know that Dad was the one?" She wasn't naive enough to think that this guy even had potential to be the person that she would end up with, but it made her curious all the same.

Buffy paused and let out a short chuckle. "What brought this on?" she asked amusedly. Katherine shrugged as Buffy returned to her hair. "Curiosity, I guess," she said cryptically. Because she was turned around she didn't see the mischievous smirk that her mother shot at the back of her head.

"Or does this have to do with a certain leather jacket that I saw you wearing when you got home?"

Katherine stiffened immediately. "I, uh..." she trailed off, unable to come up with a good excuse.

"Was he cute?" Buffy asked conversationally, making Katherine relax. She'd never talked to her mom about boys, mostly because there never had been a boy to talk about, much to Buffy's dismay.

Elena had had crushes before, but nothing that went anything past that. Liam obviously had had a girlfriend, though Buffy - and Angel for that matter - had never particularly liked Jenny. She reminded Buffy too much of a young Cordelia Chase, but amped up about a thousand levels and with no redeeming qualities. Bonnie was still too young to care.

"Cute is an understatement... possibly even an insult," Katherine said honestly as her fingers came up to fiddle with her locket unconsciously. Buffy nodded as she began to section off Katherine's hair so she could braid it like she had when Katherine had been little. "Sounds promising enough," Buffy commented, and Katherine had known her mom long enough to know when she was fishing for more.

"He was gorgeous," she admitted truthfully. "He had this jawbone, and this really, really pale skin, which typically I wouldn't find attractive at all, but it just... and then he had this jet black hair and his eyes... they were the bluest I think I've ever seen," she gushed, her cheeks immediately flushing when she realized that she'd said way more than she'd meant to.

"Sounds like somebody's smitten," her mother said teasingly as she secured the braid with a hair tie. Before Katherine could argue, Buffy changed the subject. "What about the jacket?"

"He thought I was cold and he gave it to me."

"What, did he say something cheesy like "it looks better on you" when you tried to give it back?"

Katherine turned with a surprised expression on her face. "How did yo-"

"Oh, your father pulled that one before we started dating," she laughed wryly. "Lemme tell ya, you think the whole idea is cheesy until it actually happens to you." Katherine laughed and agreed.

Buffy studied her, realizing that she didn't think she'd ever seen her smile like she was while talking about the guy she'd met that night. As much as she hated to even try to put two and two together, the dark hair, blue eyes, and pale skin immediately made her think about Damon, which was even more likely since she knew he was in town.

A part of her hoped that it had been him, and not only because of what Lorne had told her. She remembered how natural they had been together, even as kids, and even though they fought constantly, she had to agree with Spike that she'd seen potential there as well.

Another part prayed that it wasn't, considering what Spike had told them about his less than savory behavior over the past couple years. She didn't want her daughter falling in love with someone who would only end up hurting her in the end, but she knew why Spike was pushing so hard for the two of them to get together.

He was convinced that if Damon developed feelings for Katherine that it would inspire him and make him want to be a better man, just like he and Angel had become better versions of themselves for her. She didn't know if it was wishful thinking or a safe bet, but, if her gut was correct and the boy she'd met tonight was in fact Spike and Faith's oldest, then Spike had been at least half right all along and she didn't know how she felt about that.

"You know, your dad told me a story once."

Katherine waited patiently while twirling the small curls at the end of her braid between her fingers for her mother to continue.

"Once upon a time there was a boy. He was all alone, no friends or family to care for him. Then, one night, the boy saw a comet. He saw the comet, and he felt as though his life had meaning, and when it went away, he waited his entire life for it to come back to him."

"How could a comet make him feel like his life had meaning?'

Buffy rolled her eyes, remembering that she'd asked Angel a similar question when he'd first told her on the night that they'd gotten engaged.

"It was more than just a comet because of what it brought to his life: direction, beauty, meaning." Katherine listened intently as her mother continued, having a feeling of what the story was about.

"There were many who couldn't understand, and sometimes he walked among them. But, even in his darkest hours, he knew in his heart that someday it would return to him and his world would be whole again. And his belief in God, and love, and art would be reawakened in his heart." She smiled as she remembered how Angel had concluded the story, and couldn't bring herself to leave it out. "It's beautiful. And heartbreaking. It's an epic love story."

She watched as Katherine immediately smiled, and she knew that she'd figured it out. "You're dad's comet, huh?" she asked quietly.

"Believe it or not, that's how he proposed, or at least part of his proposal. Poetic, right?"

Katherine scoffed. "Uh, try every girl's dream, Mom." Buffy smiled, brushing a stray curl that had escaped the braid behind Katherine's ear. "I guess what I'm trying to say is - everyone has a comet. There's always that one person who affects you like no one else can, who inspires you and makes you want to be a better person. Your dad is just as much my comet as I am his."

Katherine was silent for a few moments before nodding with a sincere smile. "Thanks, Mom." She leaned over and kissed Buffy's cheek before standing up and heading off to bed.

* * *

"I know, I know. I was just trying to organize my stuff for when school starts in a week," Katherine said into her phone as she walked down one hallway deep within the school. She'd just come from her room and was busy exploring, trying to commit everything to memory.

"_You're lost, aren't you?"_

She scoffed. "I'm not lost, Dad. I know exactly where I'm going."

She scowled when he chuckled, clearly unconvinced. "I'm serious!" When he laughed again, she growled. "Okay, hanging up now. See you later." She hung up, rolling her eyes at him before looking down at her phone as she rounded another corner. Giles had told her how to get to the library from her dorm room, she just had to take another right, then a left, go down a flight of stairs...

She startled herself when she ran right into something, more like _someone._ She looked up, ready to apologize when she locked eyes with the same blue ones that she'd seen only a few nights before. What was the mysterious guy doing in the school? A few seconds - that felt like a lifetime - passed as they just looked at each other in shock.

The guy was the first one to come to his senses. "Oh, I'm, uh... I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was g-"

"No, it was my fault, I..." she trailed off after seeing his smirk, a look she remembered all too well. "Damon?" She was strangely both relieved and petrified that Damon was in fact the one that she'd mooned over only nights before. Even though Lorne swore by his visions, she'd sincerely doubted the one about she and Damon until now.

"In the flesh," he quipped, making her grin unconsciously. Wait, why wasn't he acting surprised? Unless he...

"You knew it was me that night, didn't you?"

"In my defense, I didn't know it was you until you told me your name," he said with his hands raised, further displaying he was speaking in his defense, but the smirk on his face told her that he was anything but serious.

"Then why did yo-"

"Keeps the mystery," he said flirtatiously, making her have to fight the sudden insane urge to blush. After a few moments of slightly awkward silence, she tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "I should probably get going... Wouldn't want to make my parents worry and all. You know how... overly protective my dad can be." Internally, she winced at the blatant, lame lie, and knew that he would see right through it.

Instead of calling her out, he merely nodded and stepped to the side in order to let her pass him at the same time she did, leaving him still blocking her way. They both laughed nervously and then proceeded to do it again, bringing them right back to square one. Finally, he stepped back, allowing her to pass by him, which she did with a quiet - and rather nervous - "thank you."

She had almost made it down the hall - suddenly feeling terribly nauseous as she felt those proverbial butterflies that she'd only heard about flutter in her stomach, the fact that she could feel his eyes practically burning holes into her back making the feeling that much more prevalent - when he sped in front of her, nearly scaring her half to death, no pun intended.

"You wanna go grab a bite to eat? I know this perfect little diner right outside the city that has the closest thing I've found to good old Southern cooking since I got here," he asked suavely, though she could see right through him. He was as attracted to her as she was to him, a stark contrast from their slightly pessimistic relationship when they were younger.

She briefly marveled at what a difference a few years could make to change a person's perspective as she took in the irony of it all. Who would've thought that their constant arguing and fighting would turn into something like this? For a brief moment she allowed herself to believe that Spike - and Lorne, by proxy - had been right all along before she banished the thought, not wanting to get too ahead of herself.

She weighed the offer - which was actually surprisingly tempting - for a few moments, going over the pros and cons, before she caved. "Sure. Believe it or not, a little Southern style cuisine has never sounded better," she quipped, gaining a genuine chuckle from him.

"Great, we can take my car," he said as they both resumed walking. She realized that she'd briefly forgotten the significant age difference between them, though insignificant compared to both of their parents' by a substantial margin, but shrugged it off. What was a measly three years in the grand scheme of things? She knew plenty of couples who had at least ten years or more separating them. Three years was nothing.

"Cool," she replied before she realized something. "Crap, I don't have my wallet with me... Can we maybe swing by my house on the way there?"

"Sure, it's not like I have to be mindful of your curfew or anything." She rolled her eyes good naturedly, but was happy that he hadn't offered to be chivalrous and pay for her as well as himself. He knew her better than that.

"I don't have a curfew," she said in defense half-heartedly, though she understood what he was saying. Lunch time was just rolling around so they had the entire afternoon to fill up with any activity they saw fit... if he didn't get tired of her within an hour like he used to.

He laughed, clearly not believing her. "Yeah right. Like Angel would ever let you stay out past nine, especially after knowing what goes on after the sun goes down, even if you lived in a small town like you did. You never know when a vamp could roll into town." She begrudgingly had to admit that he had a point there.

Instead of trying to argue with him, she merely bumped his shoulder with her's. "Shut up."

He chuckled again before turning to smirk at her, and she felt herself having to suppress blushing again. "Katherine O'Connor, I believe this is the start of a beautiful friendship." It didn't take a genius to tell that the friendship portion of that sentence wasn't what he meant. Instead of giving away that she'd read more into his words than he probably intended, she rolled her eyes again.

"You wish," she muttered, but grinned all the same.

* * *

"This is cute," he quipped as they walked up to her front porch. As she opened the front door and walked into the house, she cast an annoyed look back at him. On the car ride there, their previously pessimistic relationship had returned full force, but now it was playful banter opposed to full on verbal duels. It'd felt comfortable and right, easy in a way that she never could have expected.

"Shut up." He laughed at her. "Is that all you've got? Damn, I thought you'd have better comebacks than that." He went to walk into the house, only to stop when the vampiric nature of him kicked in and barred him from crossing the threshold. At his look of annoyance, it was her turn to smirk.

"You were saying?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"How extremely witty you are," he said immediately with a fake smile which made her laugh all the same. "Fine, you've won me over. You can come in, Damon." Even though it wasn't remotely close to being nightfall yet, she'd gotten an earful about how she should be specific when inviting people into the house, lest any vampire with ears could overhear a general invitation and gain an invitation as well.

As he stepped in the door, she turned away from him to look further into the house, not seeing anyone. "Mom? Dad? I'm home! You'll never guess who I ran into at the school!" she said loudly, walking further in, passing the empty living room as she went, Damon following behind her.

They were met halfway to the kitchen by Buffy, followed closely by Angel, one with genuine joy at seeing Damon written on their face and the other with a look full of wariness and trepidation that confused her greatly.

"Aunt Buffy," Damon greeted with a vibrant smile that lit up his entire face, one that made Katherine's heart stutter for a moment as she watched the two hug. To hide her sudden odd turn of emotions, she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, watching the interaction. While Damon and her mom's greeting was touching, she was more interested in seeing he and her dad's.

Based off of Angel's barely suppressed glare that followed the dark haired teen's every move, she could guess that Spike's prediction and Lorne's confidence in what they would become was at the forefront of his mind. She was just happy that he didn't have his shotgun with him, further proof of how well he'd acclimated to Southern lifestyle, stereotypes and all.

"Geez, I know I'm gonna say this a lot over the next few days, but you've grown," Buffy commented with a laugh after they separated. "What can I say, 8 years changes a person," he quipped before finally meeting Angel's eyes, and to his credit he didn't look intimidated in the slightest.

"Damon," Angel nodded as amicably as he could given the situation as he offered his hand for the younger man to shake. Damon impressed Katherine yet again as he immediately grasped Angel's hand firmly and returned the handshake with equal force and fervor. As soon as their hands dropped, Katherine, wanting to save Damon from any further interrogation, quickly jumped in.

"So, Damon and I are going to go grab a bite and catch up. I'm just gonna go change and grab a few things before we head out," she said before taking Damon's hand in her's and practically dragging him up the stairs in the direction of her room, not looking back in order to avoid the disapproval that was no doubt plastered all over her father's face. She wasn't sure about her mother.

"Ouch, you don't have to drag me!" Damon exclaimed playfully as they reached the top of the stairs and walked the remainder of the way to her room.

As soon as they were both inside, she immediately closed the door and he walked over to her bed, plopping down on it with little preamble, before leaning back against the headboard. He picked up Mr. Gordo from where he was situated next to him on the bed and held him. "I can't believe he's still in one piece! How old is he?"

She looked at him over her shoulder as she went through her drawers, picking out clothes to change into. "At least 30."

"Looks like he's in pretty good shape... You planning on saving him for your kids?" he asked nonchalantly, catching her off guard, not because of the question itself, but because of the image that it brought to her mind. Almost as clear as day, she could see a little girl with curly, mocha colored hair and green eyes clutching the stuffed pig to her as Damon told her a bedtime story, and it scared her more than anything had in a long time.

If she could already imagine a future with him that vividly - one that involved _children_ \- there was no telling what else it could conjure up.

Banishing the thought, she finally finished picking out all of her clothes and walked the few feet that separated her from the bathroom that connected she and Elena's rooms. "I'll be out in a minute. Absolutely no snooping allowed. You got me?" she said over her shoulder, garnering a chuckle from him. "Yes, Mom."

She rolled her eyes as she shut and locked the door.

A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom dressed in jean shorts, a black tank top layered underneath an unbuttoned black and red checkered flannel shirt, and combat boots. Damon eyed her up and down for a few seconds as she flitted around the room, eventually chuckling.

"Still a UGA fan I see."

"And from your tone, I'd take it that you're still a die hard LSU fan," she shot back.

He merely chuckled as he rose from the bed and moved to the door. "Ready?" She nodded, for the first time really taking the time to notice how his clothes - a black v-neck, dark jeans, and yet another leather jacket - hugged him in all the right places, just like on the night that they'd met in the alley.

With a deep breath, she slung her rarely used purse over her shoulder and made her way out of her already opened bedroom door and down the stairs, suddenly incredibly nervous as to what the rest of the day might bring.

* * *

"So... how did you, ya know, become a half vampire or whatever we are?" she asked as she looked over the menu of the small, but quaint, diner on the outskirts of the city. Thankfully, Damon had requested a booth in a secluded corner of the restaurant so they could talk freely about anything they wanted to.

"I was at this old rundown gas station in the seedy part of the Quarter and a guy tried to hold it up. There was only me and the clerk there, and I did the stupid, heroic thing and tried to wrestle the gun away from him. One thing led to another and I wound up with a double tap to the chest," he said without missing a beat as he continued to peruse the menu.

She looked up at him and blinked a few times in shock before a sympathetic look graced her features. "I'm sorry," she said honestly, unable to even conjure up the image of a 15 year old Damon being gunned down in such a place.

"Don't be," he said as he looked up from the menu, seeing the look on her face. "It was a long time ago... What about you?"

She laid the menu on the table and leaned back in the booth, against the cushion. "Drowned. Liam's car drove off a bridge into the lake with all three of us inside. I tried to save us, even motioned for Mom and Dad to get them out before me, which they did, but it wasn't enough."

He returned her sympathetic expression, internally marveling at the strength of character and loyalty and love it took for her to put her siblings first like that, especially when her own life hung in the balance. Instead of apologizing, which he knew she wouldn't appreciate, he copied her previous action, eyeing her from across the table.

He studied her as she picked up the menu again - probably in order to distract herself - and he grinned slightly as he saw a slight, indescribably cute, crease form right between her eyebrows as she decided what she wanted for lunch. His eyes moved from there to her deep brown, doe-like eyes that'd made him want to melt the second he'd seen them in that alleyway, and every time they'd locked eyes since.

His eyes ran over her glossy, deep brown hair that started off sleek and straight at the top and then fell down to her waist, curling into ringlets as she absently brushed a strand behind her ear, which let him know without even having to look into her eyes that she was slightly nervous.

They then moved to her perfect olive, tanned skin, such a contrast to his own pale pallor, but then, that wasn't a surprise. Even though he distinctly remembered Angel being pretty pale before he'd become human, now he was just as tan as Buffy had always been.

And her laugh... her laugh was ridiculous. Whenever she'd laugh, he'd have to struggle the insane urge not to laugh at her laugh because it was so infectious, and dare he say it, adorable. He'd never found anything adorable in his life, so that was saying a lot.

All of her physical traits drew him to her like nothing or no one else ever had in his life, and her others did as well. Despite her somewhat icy exterior, bantering back and forth with her made him feel more alive than he had in years and it amused him to no end. The way she carried herself with an air of confidence that was in no way arrogant, and a clear sense of self-awareness astounded him.

He'd never met such a mature, driven girl her age, and that attracted him just as much as everything else about her did. He could tell that she never did anything halfway, and once she put her mind to something, it was all or nothing.

But, he could also tell she was extremely impulsive, if the tales that he'd overheard Spike tell Faith after helping the O'Connor family move to Cleveland were anything to go off of. She was unpredictable, yet another thing that he found extremely likeable, even admirable about her. At least he knew that he'd never be bored when he was with her.

For a fraction of a second, Lorne's prediction about them being soulmates of all things flashed through his mind, and though he hadn't believed it before, he was becoming more and more convinced with each passing second. With a slight frown, he pushed those thoughts to the side.

It was no use even imagining a future with her or anyone else. He'd never drag anyone through the mud with him, because the person he'd become - the murderer, liar, killer, villain - didn't deserve love, and he knew it. A large part of him didn't even want it and scoffed at the idea, but the portion of him that was still clinging to his humanity was screaming at him to take a chance, a chance with _her_, but the more he thought it over, the more he decided that it was a bad idea.

Besides, once she found out what he was and forever would be, she'd hate him just as much as the others, and that thought caused him such an acute pain that he felt the twin bullets tearing their way into his heart a second time. _It was a necessary evil_, he convinced himself. He didn't deserve anyone, especially not someone as pure and wholly good as her. He'd only bring her down with him in the end, straight to hell.

His eyes then fell on the locket that hung from her neck, the blue of the lapis lazuli stone standing out against her tan skin and the silver that held it together. He couldn't help but think that he'd seen it before, feeling that he had with every fiber of his being, but it was crazy. He knew that she'd never had it until now. He would've remembered it.

"That your daylight necklace?" he asked in an attempt to create conversation and garner an answer that would hopefully satisfy his curiosity. He watched as she looked down briefly before meeting his eyes. "Yeah. It was my namesake's, my dad's sister's, before she died. Dad gave it to me the night I completed my transition."

He nodded before stretching his hand out across the table so that she could see his ring. She marveled at the intricate, ancient design of it, taking in the clear family crest that was inlaid in the brilliant blue stone. A large, ornate "_D_" was carved into the silver, with "_nam infinitas" _inscribed underneath in much smaller font.

"For infinity," she said quietly, easily translating the Latin phrase. He looked surprised and impressed that she knew what it meant. He had to try mightily not to dwell on the warmth of her hands on his as she continued to study the ring. "My dad had it made for me as soon as Willow found the spell."

She nodded, letting her hand slip from his, both shrugging off the immediate loss that they felt in response.

Before either could utter another word, the waitress walked up to the table, ready to take their order. Katherine's eyes narrowed as she studied the petite, curvy blonde that had to be in her early twenties. It wasn't the fact that she was pretty - or that she was kind of obnoxious - that made Katherine's hackles rise. The girl completely disregarded her existence as she tried to flirt with Damon, to an embarrassingly desperate extent.

The only thing that took the edge off was seeing how he ignored her all too obvious advances entirely. Even though it made her smile, she still watched the blonde with an unabashed annoyance that made Damon want to chuckle when he snuck a glance at her while he knew she wasn't watching.

"She'll have a sweet tea," he said, and though Katherine was slightly angry that he'd ordered for her, she was thankful for the move because it made the waitress, she vaguely remembered her saying her name was Heidi, finally notice her. "And he'll have one as well," she said, struggling to keep the sarcastic tone that wanted to seep into her voice at bay.

Katherine continued to glare at her back until she'd disappeared around the corner before turning back to him.

"So, pops told me that you're a witch, too? On top of being a slayer and whatever the hell we are." She nodded simply, searching for something, anything, for them to talk about now that their current conversation had pretty much come to a stand-still. "Willow even said that I have the potential to be way more powerful than she is, and that kinda wigs me out."

He nodded, and again, the conversation took a nose dive into awkward silence, having her desperately grasping at straws in order to keep the conversation going and hopefully steer it in a less serious direction.

He surprised her by beating her to the punch. "What's your favorite movie?" She released a deep breath before crossing her arms across her chest and cocking her head.

"Depends."

"On?"

"If you're talking literarily or for pure enjoyment."

"Touche," he quipped before he replied, "both."

"From a literary standpoint, I'd either go with _Pride and Prejudice_ or _Wuthering Heights_... even if Cathy is a bit of a bitch. Those are my favorite novels too, so there's the inevitable answer to that question. "

Damon laughed as he saw the pure disdain for said character on her face. "Somebody feels pretty strongly about a certain character."

She shrugged. "I mean, sure, Heathcliff isn't an upstanding individual, but he wasn't born evil either. No one is born evil, their life makes them that way. Every villain in fiction and reality has a reason for wanting to watch the world self-destruct, whether it be losing someone close to them or simply because they feel like humanity as a whole has done them wrong. In my mind, there's always a method to the madness," she stopped for a moment before adding, "except for The Joker... he just wants to watch the world burn for shits and giggles."

Damon laughed, finding her cursing utterly adorable instead of a turn off and agreeing with her completely, while refusing to identify with the antagonist of one of her favorite novels or gain hope from her positive, sympathetic view of humanity. He knew that an innocence like her's was going to be snuffed out quickly, and all too soon.

"My favorite novel has got to be either _A Tale of Two Cities_ or _Great Expectations._"

"A big fan of Dickens, I see," she commented playfully before answering the second half of his question.

"My favorite movie is _The Dark Knight Rises_, by a huge margin."

He was genuinely surprised by her answer, having expected something girly or cliche, though he was beginning to figure out that, while she looked cute and sweet on her exterior, he could clearly see the already badass women underneath that she'd become in the future.

What also surprised him that it was his favorite too. "Get out of here, same."

The answering smile she shot his way was unlike anything he'd ever seen before, and the only thing he could compare it to was the Sun itself.

"I could imagine why, seeing as how the movie kind of takes a lot of inspiration from _A Tale of Two Cities."_

"Nah, I just like it for the action, the cleverness, and the pure screenwriting genius of it."

She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at his answer. "You mean you like seeing Bruce Wayne, eccentric billionaire, kick some ass after 8 years of wasting away in his mansion doing nothing, while taking on a guy who is physically superior to him" she deadpanned.

"Yeah, pretty much. Though, I feel like a ton of people overlook all of the social issues that are discussed and referenced in it. And then at the end, when he gets betrayed by his kinda girlfriend, was a great plot twist."

She nodded her head agreeing, though gritting her teeth as he referenced said women. "Yeah, I wasn't ever actually a big fan of her's at all. I was really more interested in his relationship with-"

"Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman," they both said in unison, laughing, even as Heidi came back with their drinks and sat them on the table in front of them. He cast a glance at Heidi for the first time, almost begrudgingly, before looking back at Katherine. "We're so having a discussion about that after this."

"I'll definitely hold you to that," she said, smirking.

* * *

"I mean, she's such a dynamic, interesting character! Even in the comics she's one of the only characters I know that is constantly walking the line between being a hero or a villain," she said before eating a french fry. Much like they had with their drinks, they had ordered their food for each other, further proving that they still knew the other's likes and dislikes like the back of their hand. It was almost like the eight years separating them never existed in the first place.

"Plus, she's all kinds of hot," he said, making her laugh.

"Typical guy, get one girl to strap on a skin tight leather outfit and do badass things and that's all you can think about."

"In my defense, I've had a serious crush on Anne Hathaway as long as I can remember."

"What, not Michelle Pfeiffer?" she asked teasingly. He mulled over how to answer her question for a moment before finally answering her. "She was a great Catwoman, don't get me wrong, but I was never a huge fan of the Tim Burton Batmans. They were a little too over the top, ridiculous, and just plain weird in a creepy sort of way. Nolan's are more realistic, and I think that's why I prefer his trilogy to Burton's movies."

"I wasn't either, to be honest."

"So, Anne's your favorite Catwoman too, I'm guessing?"

She nodded as she took a sip of her sweet tea. "She was just so damn snarky and overall kickass. From the first moment she was on screen when she stole his mother's pearls from his safe, I loved her and wanted she and Bruce to go ahead and make babies like there was no tomorrow."

"So, you were happy with the ending scene then?" he asked, amused and captivated at how her eyes lit up whenever she talked about something she was passionate about, making him want to melt all over again.

"Happy is an understatement. Ecstatic is more appropriate." She went to go steal some fries from his plate when he swatted her hand away. She scowled at him adorably before eating her last bite of her chicken tender, leaving her plate empty.

"Something about their relationship just gets to me. I mean, at the beginning they're enemies, wanting different things. Granted, she was just a jewel thief that'd gotten in over her head, but he was a hero and she wasn't. They just had this certain chemistry and tension that made me instantly want them to get together. I believe that she made him feel alive again and that he inspired her to try to be a better person. That's what love is, or at least how I think it should be."

As he watched how in depth she analyzed it, he couldn't help but see some parallels between them and the two characters she was discussing, except in their situation, he was the morally ambiguous Selina Kyle and she was the morally sound Bruce Wayne. He could easily see them dancing around each other while claiming to despise the other once she found out what he was.

Only in their situation, he doubted that she'd give him as many free passes as Bruce had given Selina. In reality, he was much more like Bane - minus the sociopathic tendencies - than Catwoman, and he was sure she wouldn't let him walk free, or even live, for long after she figured that out.

"What about tv shows?" he asked, wanting to veer away from the turn his thoughts had taken for the time being, even though he was fascinated that they shared the exact same views. He also didn't want to think about how she'd basically admitted that she wanted a love like that, something that he ultimately wouldn't be able to give her.

She then swooped in and successfully stole some of his fries while he was completely distracted with waiting for her answer. She smirked at his shock, quickly replaced by a perturbed expression as she finished off the fries and dusted her hands off.

"I'd have to say NCIS, which is weird because it's a far cry from anything else I like."

He rolled his eyes as he took in the look on her face. "Lemme guess... you were one of those people that wanted Tony and Ziva to get together." She shot him a disapproving glare as he grinned at her. "Duh! You weren't?" He laughed before pushing his plate away from him, offering her the rest of his fries, which she eagerly took.

"Oh no, I was. I could just tell by the slight annoyance in your tone that you were bitter at how something ended."

Before she could reply, Heidi came back with both of their checks, Katherine having asked for one as well, though she had seriously contemplated letting Damon pay for her anyways in order to make it appear more like a date simply to dissuade the annoying waitress to lay off.

"Are you sure there isn't anything I could get you?" she asked, not so subtly laying her hand on Damon's shoulder, making Katherine have to bite her lip in order to suppress the growl that wanted to escape her throat.

"Positive. Thank you," he replied calmly, wanting to send Heidi on her way. After she had practically ogled him throughout their entire meal, he was more annoyed at her persistence.

To their relief, she finally gave up, wishing them a nice day before turning and sulking back to the counter in order to grab a plate of food to deliver it to a table. He looked down at his check then, laughing when he saw that the blonde had left her number on the bottom. At Katherine's curious look, he shook his head and balled the receipt up.

As they left the diner, he began to think up more ways to spend some time with her before their inevitable falling out. If this was all he was going to get, he wanted to enjoy it while he still had the chance.

"I had a really great time, Damon," she said as they walked up the steps of her front porch, the lights on, clearly a move by her dad, and she cringed when she imagined how he would react to her "just having lunch" had turned into an afternoon chalked full of other fun activities like going for ice cream and stopping off at a park and playing on the playground like they were 7 and 10 again.

"So did I, surprisingly," he teased, making her roll her eyes as they came to a stop in front of the front door. "I was being serious."

"I know," he said quietly, looking into her eyes, sounding more serious than he ever had in her memory. The look in his eyes - pure honesty, and dare she say vulnerability - made her heart lurch inside her chest. Looking back on the day that they'd shared, she couldn't remember laughing so much or being as happy as she had been over the past couple of hours.

It made her feel alive again in a way that she'd never thought possible, like she'd been sleepwalking her way through life for weeks, if not for at least the past 8 years. The thought made her freeze as she immediately went back to the conversation she had had with him, or, more specifically, the all out rambling rant that she'd had when discussing one of her favorite fictional couples, and she couldn't help but notice the similarities, at least on her end.

She'd been emotionally closed off since they had last seen each other, which had been 8 years ago, the same amount of time that Bruce Wayne had spent as a recluse in Wayne Manor, only showing a spark of life once Selina Kyle had entered the picture. Damon brought out the playful side of her that had been dormant for far too long.

Even before she'd become a vampire, she had always taken it upon herself to make sure that her siblings were okay and safe, much like Bruce did with the city he loved so much. She'd become their rock, the solid foundation that held her family together.

With Buffy and Angel gone, busy with work almost half of the time, she'd taken it upon herself to be the adult in the household, and she'd matured greatly because of it. She rarely acted like a 15 year old. She'd practically skipped her teenage years and catapulted into adulthood.

She was about to ask if he wanted to hang out the next day and do something - anything - in order to keep her mind off of the day that school resumed in a few days, when the porch lights flicked on and the door opened, revealing Angel on the other side with his arms crossed across his chest and an expression that told her he was far from amused.

Awkwardly, she cast a nervous glance at her father before turning back to Damon. "Yeah, uh, it's late. We should probably-"

Damon nodded in understanding, giving off a very gentleman-like vibe, and she didn't know if it was genuine or a show for Angel's sake. "Turn in." She nodded in kind.

"It was nice to re-meet you, Damon." She barely managed to hold back the gasp that rose in her throat as he took her hand between both of his.

"Great re-meeting you too, Katherine," he said before kissing the back of her hand, not once breaking eye contact with her. With words stuck in her throat, she mustered the best smile she could, though she was extremely flustered, before reluctantly entering the house, avoiding looking Angel in the eye until after the door was closed.

The disapproving glare that he directed her way made her want to shrink away, but instead, she straightened and looked him right in the eye. "I don't wanna hear it, Dad. I don't care what you think about him, or what Spike has told you about him, but he's a good person. I've had more fun today than I've had in the past 8 years combined. He makes me feel like I'm still normal," she said defiantly before her expression softened.

"I feel like _me_ when I'm with him - the person I want to be," she said quietly, not waiting for him to respond before she trudged up the stairs headed straight for her room. She knew exactly what he'd say, but she didn't want to hear it because he didn't know Damon, not like she did. She just hoped that he'd figure out that Damon made her happy, even if they never became more than friends. He'd just have to get that through his thick skull.

She knew that fathers had a tendency to dislike any boy in their daughter's life, and Angel wasn't an exception. Hopefully her mom would be able to talk some sense into him soon.

* * *

"Morning," Katherine said grumpily as she trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen. It was still extremely early, but her dad had offered to give her a sparring lesson which she wouldn't have passed on for the world, even if it meant sacrificing several hours of sleep.

"You used to be a morning person," Angel quipped as he set a plate of eggs and a warm mug of blood down in front to her as she sat down at the table.

"Yeah... that was before I became nocturnal," she shot back before taking a sip from her mug.

He chuckled as he grabbed his own plate and came to sit across from her, watching as she grabbed the newspaper that he'd left on the table from the day before. Her forehead creased in confusion and worry as she read the headline on the front page.

_12 Women Found Dead; Victims of Suspected Serial Killer?_

"There's a serial killer in town?" she asked as she looked up at Angel.

"That's what local law enforcement thinks. They've found two dozen bodies so far, excluding those, that all appear to have been killed by a single person."

"Could it be a group of vampires?" He shook his head.

"The bodies weren't drained of blood, at least not completely. A vampire would have to know exactly what they were doing in order to be able to stop with that much blood left..." He trailed off with a grimace, gritting his teeth as whatever thought passed through his mind clearly disturbed him.

"What?"

"Whoever did this did it for the fun of it. These bodies... they're not exactly completely intact."

She placed her fork down as images of dismembered human remains entered her mind, turning her stomach. "So, someone's killed three dozen people and the police still don't even have a clue who the guy is?" Angel shook his head while eyeing her warily.

"Is there a certain MO that has linked all of them together or are police just taking a wild guess?" A normal person - especially not a teenage girl - wouldn't have thought to ask such a question, proving to Angel that she'd been much more observant in regards to his job than he'd known, or than she should've been.

"Before the last twelve, the only thing that linked them together was the careless mutilation of each corpse and the fact that they were found dumped in dank alleyways, typically in piles of at least three or more."

"And what about the latest?" She pushed her plate away, and her now cold mug of blood. Talking about all of it had taken away her appetite. Angel took a deep breath before looking her right in the eye.

"Dark hair and eyes, tan skin, all young teenage girls... with curly hair." She froze, literally staying unhumanly still, like a statue. "I fit into the killer's MO." He watched her absorb the information, easily seeing the fear evident in eyes that were identical to his own.

"That's why you're pushing me to train so hard now, isn't it? You haven't even offered to train Elena or Liam," she all but accused, not exactly angry with him, but not pleased either.

"And it's also why I'm not allowing you to patrol until this guy is caught." He didn't even offer her time to retort before he'd picked up both of their plates and taken them to the sink, effectively ending their conversation.

She wanted to argue that she could take on some measly human, especially when said human had killed that many people already, but she knew her words would fall on deaf ears. Under normal circumstances she would've made her mind up right then and there to sneak out regardless, but fear prevented her from making that decision.

What if her father was wrong? What if a master vampire had rolled into town? One arrogant and stupid enough to believe that he could simply galavant around the city, killing as he pleased? She wouldn't stand a chance with a vampire that old, and she knew it. She'd end up exactly like all of his other victims, possibly even worse if he held a grudge against either of her parents. She had enough sense not to tempt fate and cause them any more pain.

So, she bit back the retort that had risen in her throat and leaned back in her seat, watching her father's back as he washed off the dishes and began sorting them into the dishwasher, easily picking out how tense his shoulders were, telling her that he was just as scared as she was. She just hoped that she was wrong and that the police would catch the guy, and soon.

* * *

She groaned as her body hit the mat for what felt like the millionth time that day. Her dad had taken her down to the War room in the basement of the school for a sparring session, which had mainly resulted in her getting her ass handed to her by her old man.

She nearly growled as he smirked down at her in triumph before offering her his hand. She watched his hand for a few moments before she had to fight off a smirk. She took his hand, but then used it to pull him down to the mat with her. Though he put up a fight, she used her superior strength and speed to maneuver him until he was kneeling on the ground with her standing behind him, one arm wrapped around his neck while the other grabbed the back of his neck, putting her in a position that she could easily snap his neck with a simple flick of her wrist.

"You're dead," she said triumphantly, shocking him with the slight trace of seriousness in her tone. He was impressed. In just an hour alone she'd managed to make at least a month's worth of progress, or at least when he compared it to the times he'd taught or sparred with Buffy.

He was fairly confident now that she could take on at least three fledglings at once and dispatch of them easily, but just because he was happy with how well she was absorbing all of the tactics and moves he was teaching her didn't mean that he was going to let her win so easily.

He delivered a sharp elbow to her gut, surprising her so that her grip loosened just enough for him to be able to break free of her hold. He grabbed her arm and threw her over his shoulder, making her slide a few feet once she hit the mat. Not to be deterred, she quickly sped into a standing position, sizing him up as he stood.

"Hesitation, even just a second of it, can mean life or death. Every millisecond of a fight counts. You can't ever let your guard drop until you know you've won."

She cocked her head, a sarcastic, defiant air coming over her, everything about her posture and the way she carried herself radiating confidence. "You just don't wanna admit that I had you. That I, a 15 year old girl, was about to hand a man with more than 250 plus years of fighting experience his ass on a silver platter," she said snarkily with her hands on her hips.

He chuckled. "That's not what I-" he cut off sharply as he ducked, the knife that she'd expertly thrown - another skill that she'd acclimated to scarily fast - whizzing a few inches above his head as it continued on it's path that ultimately ended when it hit the wall... and the powerbox that controlled the lighting of the massive space.

In the couple of seconds that it took him to realize that she'd never been aiming for him in the first place, she'd already disappeared. The lights flickered violently in some places while they'd completely failed in another, plunging the room into near darkness. He searched for her, looking every which way, but couldn't spot her.

"Has your eyesight really gotten that bad?" she quipped as she watched him continue to search for her unsuccessfully, her smile of amusement growing with each passing second that he failed to find her.

"I might not be able to see as good as you can, but I have far more experience in it than you. Remember what I said about age." He didn't want to admit it, but he wasn't nearly as comfortable being in the dark as he used to. Before he'd shanshued, it'd been all he'd known for two and a half centuries, but not anymore. The moon had stopped being his ally as soon as he had taken his first true breath.

He heard her laugh once, still not being able to discern where she was. "If I knew any better, I'd say age bows to the superiority of resourcefulness and wit." He turned, having felt her right behind him for a split second before she was gone once more. He realized a second too late that a rope had tightened around his ankle, propelling him upwards a few feet before leaving him hanging upside down.

The back-up lights finally kicked in then, revealing Katherine, who was carelessly standing up on one of the steel rafters with a huge grin on her face. She smirked at him before looking down at her feet, where she'd secured the rope that kept him suspended in midair.

He rolled his eyes despite himself. He couldn't help but feel immensely proud that she'd managed to outsmart him, especially in such an unexpected way.

"Wow. l haven't seen you that surprised since I knocked you on your ass when we met." Katherine sent a smirk her mother's way, which grew into a grin when she saw the impressed looks on the faces of many people that she didn't know, save for a few like Willow, Xander, Spike, and Faith. She chuckled slightly as her mother earned many muted laughs from that comment.

He rolled his eyes as they all had a good laugh at his expense. "Katherine, honey," he looked up at her, smiling even though he was annoyed that she'd embarrassed him in front of he and Buffy's friends and their children. "Can you let me down now?" He was getting dizzy because of the constant flow of blood rushing to his head.

"Sure," she quipped as she untied the rope from the steel rafter, not catching him as he fell less than three feet to the mat with a slight groan. She shrugged, not worrying about him. He hadn't even landed on his head.

"You should get down before you hurt yourself," she smiled as she heard Damon practically scold her teasingly. Wanting to banter even more before she came down, she began walking the length of the bar like it was a tight rope.

"What are you, five? Get down," he said as she reached the pillar that stood between her and yet another rafter behind it. She turned to face him, her hands grabbing onto the pillar as she did so. "Why? You afraid I'm gonna f-" she cut off as she almost lost her footing, but thankfully her grip on the stone pillar in front of her had prevented her from falling.

Instead of admitting that Damon was right and she _should _get down before she hurt herself, she laughed heartily. "Oh, haha, that was close." He shot her a very unamused expression as she continued to taunt him.

"You're hilarious."

Deciding she wanted to rile him up even more, she released the pillar and held her hands up in front of her. "Look, Damon, no hands." She panicked for a split second as her body began to fall backwards, but managed to catch herself just in time. She didn't plan on falling at least three stories to the ground today, or any day for that matter.

She laughed again in order to hide her fear as she watched the last ounce of amusement disappear from his face. She was about to shoot him a sarcastic comment when her grip failed, sending her plummeting to the ground at an alarming rate, an uncharacteristic scream flying from her throat, unbidden.

A mere second before she hit the ground, she landed in a pair of strong arms who caught her and cradled her protectively in such a way that she believed that it was Angel who'd caught her.

When she opened her eyes, hers weren't met by the brown ones that she'd expected, but impossibly blue ones. Her breath caught as she realized their faces were mere inches apart, close enough for their noses to brush as they continued to stare into one another's eyes. The moment seemed to stretch on forever as she began to feel the telltale sign of the butterflies beginning to take flight in her stomach, making her slightly nauseous.

"I thought cats always landed on their feet?" he quipped sarcastically, and just like that, the moment was gone. Awkwardly, he placed her back on her feet as she struggled to regain her composure.

"Well, most cats don't fall from heights like that," she said, casting a glance up at the rafter that she'd fallen from. She watched as he mulled it over, trying to come up with a retort, before he finally gave up. "Fair enough." She made a face at him, making him roll his eyes as they turned back to look at the group of around twenty who had watched the entire ordeal. Unknown to the other, they both rolled their eyes as they saw Lorne and Spike share a smile at what they'd just witnessed.

"Katherine," her eyes returned to her father, "there are some people that your mother and I would like you to meet." She scanned the faces, focusing on each one before swallowing thickly. "This should be fun." She heard Damon laugh as they began walking toward the group.

* * *

"So, how crazy is all of this?" Katherine asked the group of seven girls she was sitting with, including herself.

There was Elena and Bonnie, of course.

The blonde haired, blue eyed girl who was sitting next to Bonnie, Celeste, had surprisingly turned out to be her cousin slash niece, which was extremely confusing considering that she was her half brother and her aunt's daughter. They were so close in age that they'd instantly agreed on being cousins.

The brunette sitting next to Celeste was Fred and Wesley's daughter, Daphne, who was quiet and unassuming, while at the same time being startlingly smart. Katherine guessed that if they'd gone to the same school, Daphne would've been her obvious academic rival.

The brunette next to Daphne was someone that she used to know all too well but hadn't seen hide nor hair of her in years. Kylie had grown substantially, nearly everything had changed about her... except her accent. Katherine had no idea how, but Kylie had always had distinctly British accent, like Spike's, and somehow she'd never managed to lose it. It was oddly comforting in a way.

Sitting next to Katherine was a redhead named Ariel, who'd beaten her to the punch and made a sarcastic comment about the _Little Mermaid_ that had made her smile.

Katherine had never had any _real_ friends before - not the kinds that were in movies or books, not in the sense that they'd stick together through thick and thin and be there for one another - simply because she'd never felt connected to anyone. But that was then. Now, she and her sisters had four girls who could not only understand what they were going through, but get along with easier than they'd thought humanly possible.

"It's pretty insane," Ariel commented.

"Pretty insane?" Kylie asked with raised brows. "Try wicked." Katherine couldn't help but smile at Kylie's distinct British accent.

As the girls continued to talk, Katherine's eyes were drawn away from the conversation and to Damon and Alaric, who were sparring out on the mats under Faith and Spike's scrutiny. She watched Damon easily overpower his younger brother and knock him on his ass, much to his amusement.

Alaric obviously wasn't much of a challenge, even though Damon was clearly going easy on him. Seeing him filling his big brother role so naturally only made her like him that much more. Family was one of the most important things to her, and from what she could tell, he felt the same, which only confused her when she saw how Spike and Faith were watching his every move, like they were ready to jump in and defend Ric at the drop of a hat.

The other adults weren't very different. They all watched Damon warily, and it made an unsettling feeling form in the pit of her stomach. There had to be some reason why they were uncomfortable around him, but she chose to shrug it off. She knew Damon, and there was no way that he would ever hurt Ric or Kylie. He just wouldn't.

"Kat," Elena said, as Ariel bumped her shoulder, effectively getting her attention. She looked over to her twin, whose eyes were glued on the doorway. She glanced over at Bonnie, who was also looking in the same direction with her mouth hanging open in shock.

Slightly confused, she turned around, feeling like her stomach was tying itself into knots as she laid eyes on her half brother for the first time. She stood up reflexively while Elena, Bonnie, and even Liam remained stock still.

Connor's eyes immediately fell on her, a wide smile spreading across his face, making her heart ache. "Connor," she whispered. Before she even realized she had moved, she was running across the room towards him at human speed, all but flinging herself into his arms. She didn't question why he was almost the same age as her father - she hadn't brought him up again to her parents after the incident - and right now she didn't care. All she wanted was to see him, in the flesh.

As his arms wrapped around her, she felt like a piece of her that she'd never known existed had been returned to her. Even though they didn't share the same mother, it still didn't change the fact that they were related by blood, and it really didn't matter that much to her.

She hadn't even realized she'd been crying until his arms tightened around her and he whispered that it was all right, trying to comfort her. She smiled before pulling away, feeling her heart lodge in her throat as he wiped away her tears with a small, reassuring smile.

She tried to think of something - anything - she could say, but nothing seemed adequate enough. The emotions rolling through her left her mind jumbled and nearly incoherent as she looked into his clear blue eyes, so much like Darla's, yet not. They were soft, not cold and hard like her's had been, even while Connor's soul had been infecting her.

Liam, Elena, and Bonnie soon saved her from her quandary by practically bulldozing into she and Connor, squishing them all into one huge O'Connor sandwich, even though Connor obviously went by a different name. It didn't change the fact that he was one of them too - family. None of them were going to deny that.

"Okay, guys. Can't breathe," she choked out playfully from the middle of the huddle. All four of them laughed, reluctantly pulling away as they dove headlong into natural conversation, like Connor had always been a part of their circle.

* * *

Katherine watched Connor laugh and joke with Liam from her place leaning up against one of the mats out on the floor, chuckling lightly and shaking her head as Liam said something resulting in Connor putting him in a headlock while ruffling Liam's dark blonde hair.

"How're you handling having another brother?" She almost jumped as she felt Damon's breath as he whispered in her ear. To hide her surprise, she shrugged.

"I was shocked at first, and then I was angry, like deep in my bones. Dad, Mom, Giles... they all knew about Connor, but we didn't. They kept him from us our entire lives, and by proxy took away his chance at knowing us too. It wasn't fair, to any of us."

She felt him lean up against the mat as well, his arm moving to support him, which just so happened to make it look like he had his arm around his shoulder to anyone that would just so happen to glance their way. She didn't know if she was more shocked at the action itself or the reaction she had to it.

Had it been any other guy, she would've called him out on it and all but knocked him on his ass, but she didn't feel the need to push him away. Their close proximity felt right and it certainly wasn't forced. She was completely comfortable in their current position, and she would be surprised if he didn't feel the same.

"And now?" She swallowed thickly, watching as Connor made Elena and Bonnie laugh.

"I'm a little overwhelmed right now, but happy. That's all that matters." She still regretted how she'd reacted when she'd found out about Connor. Angel hadn't deserved the verbal lashing, or the blow that she'd landed on his cheek. She winced as she remembered how he'd sported a shiner for a solid week as a result of her anger.

"Are you sure?" The question threw her, making her turn to look at him. "I'm just saying, I heard how you reacted to the entire thing - and the other thing that we'll not name - and I don't blame you for it. Hell, I don't think I would've handled it nearly as well as you did."

She studied his face as he continued to watch her family interact until her scrutiny made his eyes shift to meet hers. He gave her a small smile, one that she returned in kind.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

"No problem. I love helping damsels in distress."

She scoffed, feigning taking offense at him labeling her as helpless. "Take that back!"

"Make me," he challenged childishly, laughing when she took a playful swing at him, missing by less than an inch. She proceeded to chase him around on the mats, both oblivious to their friendly game being the center of attention.

Katherine finally managed to catch him, only for him to grab her around the waist, lift her off the ground, and spin her as they both laughed together.

"Damon, stop," she laughed, squealing as he tripped, sending them both to the ground. She landed on top of him, still giggling, but when she looked down into his eyes, she instantly sobered, and so did he. She was terrified to find that she wanted to close the distance between them and kiss him, in front of everyone, and from the look on his face so did he. The only thing that stopped them was Connor's voice interrupting the silence that had enveloped the room.

"Katherine?" She reluctantly looked away from Damon's vibrant, impossibly blue eyes and turned to Connor, still on top of Damon.

"Yeah?"

"Uh, can I talk to you for a little bit?" he asked, eyeing the older boy underneath her. "Unless you're busy..." he trailed off with a mischievous smile that made her flush with embarrassment.

"Sure," she said as she scrambled to get off him, feeling the loss as acutely as Damon did, if his low growl of annoyance was anything to go off of.

Ignoring all of the eyes on her, she walked over to Connor, who simultaneously slung his arm over her shoulder. "Not here... how about we take a walk?"

* * *

"I just can't believe Mom and Dad never told me about you," she said as they walked side by side along the shore of Lake Erie. It'd been Connor's idea, and she was happy. The scenery offered her comfort - relaxed her in a way that she had desperately needed.

"I'm sure they would've, eventually," he watched her look down and shove her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. "Listen, I'm almost positive that Angel would've told you at some point, but he wanted to make sure you were ready. He had a really, really good reason for not telling you about me."

"What about you? Did you know about us?" He nodded.

"I did. I saw you and Elena a few times when you were babies - held you - relished in whatever time I had with you because Angel had warned me what he and Buffy would have to do to give you guys a normal life, a life that all of you deserved, a life that I never got, and I wanted that for you. When Liam was born, I came to the hospital, repeated the process, and then Dawn and I went back to our lives. The same happened with Bonnie." He saw her run a hand through her dark curls in his periphery.

"It's not that I didn't want to see you, or that Angel and Buffy didn't want you guys to know me. I did, so much. You've known for all of a few weeks, but I've had to live with their choice for years, and a part of me resented them regardless of whether I showed it or not." She swallowed thickly before glancing over at him.

"And now that we can all finally get to know each other?" He shot her a perplexed look, not entirely understanding what she was getting at. "I mean, you're not disappointed or let down, are you? Fifteen years is a long time to wait for something."

"Why are you worried about what I think? I'm your brother, and I love you. No matter what, I will always be here for you when you need me." She smiled at his promise, not finding their conversation awkward or forced at all like she'd half-expected it to.

"Because, I don't know... I guess I'm worried because it's weird. Going your entire life believing that you only had three siblings, only to find out that you have an older brother," she meant it in the least offensive way possible and he knew it. She thought the situation was weird, not him.

"You can say half-brother, ya know. It won't hurt my feelings. I wish we shared the same mother, because Buffy is a great mom, but we don't... Does that bug you?" he asked honestly, wondering if that was the underlying reason that she'd lashed out at Angel. She glanced over at him, shocked that he'd jump to such a conclusion. Truthfully, it didn't bother her in the slightest like she thought it would.

"No, of course not. Con, you're my brother. That's all that matters." They shared a smile at her answer before she changed the subject. "So, since your parents were both vampires, why aren't you like us?" He shrugged.

"No clue, but I do know that, first and foremost, I've never kicked the bucket, so cross that off the list." She chuckled before he continued. "When I was born, I was completely human, minus the helping of superhuman strength I got. I know that for a fact, but you guys... I don't think you were. I think Fred and Wes are right to think that dying simply triggered your transformation. You already had vamps genes, death just brought them to the surface."

She tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "I think they are too, but it's just really weird to think about. Life was crazy enough as it was without throwing being part vampire into the mix. Now there's all these supernatural creatures and demons that I never knew existed. I used to think that humans had the capability of, on occasion, being the strangest creatures on the face of the planet, but now..." she trailed off.

"You know, this could all just be a hallucination and you come from the long line of perfectly human O'Connor crazies." She rolled her eyes at his joke.

"The O'Connor's aren't crazy."

"That's easy to say, because you're not a _human_ one." She stopped, watching him with a mixture of amusement and mischief.

"Ouch," she exclaimed, laughing before elbowing him in the side, thankful that she didn't have to hold back with him. She didn't have to worry about hurting him with a simple flick of the wrist like she did with her parents and the others. It was nice to have someone who could take as good as they gave, while still managing to offer her advice in a way only an older sibling could.

He took off, running away quickly - faster than a human should've been capable of - with her chasing after him.

* * *

Katherine wrapped her arms around herself as she walked through the cold streets of the city, her eyes watering due to the wind. So far, she'd dusted a few vamps here and there, and sent a few more packing, but other than that, her night had been completely uneventful.

She kept her head down as she immersed herself into the crowd that was moving on the sidewalk, some calling for taxis on the side of the road while others simply made their way home.

She knew she wasn't supposed to be out on patrol - had promised her parents that she wouldn't - but the pull was just too strong. Every night she didn't go out and slay at least one vampire, she felt uncomfortable in her own skin. It ate at her. It was an itch that could only be scratched by driving a stake into a fledgling's dead heart. She couldn't determine if it was the adrenaline that the slayer in her needed, or the actual hunt, but whatever it was allowed her no rest until she gave in and relented to it's desires.

It was so strong that it overrode her fear of the serial killer on the loose, targeting girls that looked exactly like her. In an attempt to justify the impulsiveness of it, she tried to convince herself that even if she did run into him - or her - she could protect herself. Like her father said, just because the bodies had been partially drained of blood and mutilated didn't necessarily equate to a rogue vampire.

The other less pleasant possibility wasn't too far from her mind, however. A small part of her was worried that it was a master vampire and if she did happen to run into him, it wouldn't end well for her... and she really didn't feel like dying again anytime soon, especially knowing that it'd be permanent this time. She'd been given another chance, but she knew better than most that lightning never struck twice.

The steady flow of pedestrians began to thin as she walked further and further away from the heart of the city, wandering into the seedier part of town - a place that was becoming a common haunt for her.

She winced as the all too familiar scent of rotting garbage and rat - mixed with a dozen other distasteful smells - invaded her senses, making her want to gag. Over the course of her patrols here, she'd learned to pretty much ignore the foul smells. After what happened on her first night out, she'd forced herself to. Dry heaving on the pavement was not the way she wanted to start off every patrol.

As one of the aforementioned rodents scurried in front of her on the sidewalk, she grimaced as she imagined her father drinking _that_ in order to satiate his hunger. She could barely stand the smell of it, much less feel it in her hands as she drained it's life away, and putting her mouth on that dirty creature...

_Remember, no dry heaving, _she chastised herself for even letting her thoughts wander down that road.

Aside from the deplorable smell, it was actually a pretty peaceful place. There wasn't any traffic, the streets were typically barren, save for the occasional homeless person who would happen to pass her by, begging for money. Out of sympathy, she'd empty her wallet and give whatever money she had on her person to them. It served a greater purpose other than just trying to help the helpless - it ensured that she had friends on the streets who could or would vouch for her if she got into any trouble.

She shivered despite herself, wrapping her jacket tighter around herself as she expelled a substantial breath. Even though the elements didn't affect her nearly as much as they used to, she still hadn't grown accustomed to the biting cold of the north just yet.

She froze when the smell of blood hit her senses, prevalent enough for her to be able to smell it from several blocks away. She felt a pit form in her stomach as she instantly knew that the source of the smell would be grisly - a blood bath - and she shuddered as she came to the conclusion that the serial killer had taken more victims, at least five if her senses were correct.

Against her better judgement, she followed the scent until she honed in on the source, emanating from a dark, dingy, dank alley. The smell made her face shift for more than a few seconds, the more primal part of her all but salivating at the promise of there being more than enough blood to quench the seemingly undying burning in the back of her throat. No matter how much blood she drank, within a few hours the hunger always returned full force.

She'd confided that much to her father, and she was glad that she had, especially now. He was teaching her how to control her bloodlust, instead of letting it control her. It was all about focus and awareness - knowing who you were and not getting lost in what you weren't - with a generous helping of willpower. The willpower came from her humanity, she just had to continually remind herself that she wasn't one of _them_. She valued human life just as much as Angel did.

Centering herself and breathing deeply, she forced her face to shift back before steeling herself and venturing into the alley, her eyes immediately squeezing shut as she took stock of the mangled, mutilated body parts that were gathered in a pile - arms, legs, heads, bodies. They were soaked in blood. The pavement wasn't much different.

There was a large puddle - more like lake - of blood that surrounded the pile of gory limbs, and even more was spattered and sprayed across the brick walls surrounding them.

She shifted her weight, her foot stepping on something, causing her to trip. She landed with a loud thud as her body connected with the pavement, thankfully not in the thick dark red liquid. Cursing, she pushed herself up by her arms, looking to see what she'd stepped on that had caused her to trip, even though she knew it was a stupid mistake.

She felt her stomach turn violently as she saw a head laying beside her - eyes still open and trained directly on her, permanently frozen in horror. That was all it took for the blood she'd consumed that night to rush back up her throat, making her empty the contents of her stomach all over the pavement, mingling with the human blood only a few feet away.

She coughed and wheezed and gagged until there was nothing left in her stomach. She didn't know how long it took for every ounce of blood she'd consumed to come up, but by the time she was done, it had stained her chin, her hands, and her clothes. She stood shakily, having to brace herself against the opposite wall, leaving a bloody handprint.

It was only then that she realized that she wasn't alone.

"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!" She closed her eyes tightly as she immediately knew that she could easily be blamed for the five murders - and the several dozen others before that - as she looked guilty as hell.

She turned, doing what the officer asked, even though the multitude of guns trained on her wouldn't kill her. There was no way that she could successfully take out nearly a dozen cops and compel them to forget about her without hurting any of them in the process, let alone erase all evidence that she'd been at the crime scene in the first place.

Her freakin' fingerprints were on the brick wall, outlined in blood, not to mention the pig and otter concoction that Angel had cooked up for her earlier. How would anyone explain that?

She winced as three officers swarmed her, two grabbing her and slamming her against the side of an old Crown Victoria while the other cuffed her hands behind her back, tightening them as much as humanly possible. She could already feel the dull metal cutting into her wrists.

As one began to read her her Miranda Rights, all she could think was that, one - she was so dead - and two - she was never going to be able to step foot out of the house ever again.

_Genius, Katherine. You're a fucking genius, _she thought as she was shoved into the back of the cruiser and it began to pull away from the crime scene. She had no idea how she was going to talk herself out of this one.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, the fangirling that Damon and Katherine had over TDKR and The Dark Knight Trilogy helped spark the idea for the BatCat fic, so I wrote that scene before I started writing the other story (about Bruce and Selina's daughter finding out about them being Batman and Catwoman, and then how that influences her to try to fill the void that he left after they practically disappeared off the face of the earth for a little more than ten years after the explosion in TDKR) I've already spent too much time planning that plot out too lol **


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